Annyeong

A final goodbye from the AKF team as the 7-year curse hits us as well.

I have found out that over the past year that while I still like Kpop as much as I did the day I got into it 10 years ago, I have zero desire to write about it any longer. As much as that has happened since December when I reopened the blog, I thought about writing something but opted to do other things instead. Even as my favorite singer of all time released three MVs since Christmas, I still didn't want to write about anything. That was when I realized that I just needed to stop and let AKF rest in peace. The site had a good run, but once the owner of a site starts neglecting said site and posts infrequently, that is when I believe it is time for the site to go.

You see many old, broke boxers try to make a comeback just for it to not work out. This is simply the same thing. I wanted to give it one last chance, but with many of the changes in my life, that just means I spend a lot less time on the Internet. I don't follow the news and gossip, I just watch the MVs and whatever variety shows that have my favorites guesting. I don't go to forums any longer and r/kpop is cancer, so I don't see many of the stupid things fans say any longer. I know there's enough material to write about BTS stans until the end of time, and trust me, I know as I made an awful mistake in dating a Kpop fan who also happened to stan BTS, I know. I left many of the Kpop communities just because of how repressive they are. I know closing this site won't help alleviate that, but I have found out that being around less Kpop fans online makes it that much more fun to enjoy. Therefore my insulation from the rabid fans gives me a lot less to talk about.

I don't expect another site like this to ever show up for Kpop, or else someone would have it made it by now. This site has featured people from all races, all genders (even someone who identifies as a vibrator!), sexual orientations, political viewpoints, etc. We all came together to create at least one space in the Kpop media sphere where a diverse set of opinions could be shared in an entertaining fashion. I am happy with everyone who has helped AKF during its run.

Lastly, I will be turning off comments, but keeping the site open. I don't want the site to be overrun by spam comments, as I won't be moderating the comments to remove the spam.

MIKAMI YUA TO RE-RE-DEBUT AS A KOREAN POP IDOL

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I'm Actually Excited for The Unit's Girl Group

I never watched the show, mainly due to a lack of time due to studying and work, and also used my free time to watch stuff I was more interested in, but in large part was that there were way too many fucking idols. I follow several Yebin fan accounts on Twitter, because of course Yebin is the most adorable idol of the current generation, even withstanding her short stint as a blonde-haired dyke.

ESCAPE FROM SM ISLAND: How He Do It??

For years, we've all assumed that crossing the SM Entertainment gang was almost practically a career death knell. Almost NO ONE left SM and lived to tell the tale. H.O.T. left SM in 2001 due to a contract dispute and where are they now? Donezo, forced to disband since then. JYJ (aka Jaejoong/Chuck, Yoochun, and Junsu) left in 2009 due to a contract dispute, blacklisted ever since. Hangeng left Super Junior in 2009, hasn't done shit since. Jessica left SNSD in 2014, and while she's pretty much her own woman now with BLANC & ECLARE, she may or may not be blacklisted from performing on the major music shows. 

So how is it that Kris Wu managed to escape in 2014 and reach even greater heights than he did with EXO? 

NOTE: Luhan definitely managed to escape too but since he's mostly big in China only (but he's HUGE in China, don't get me wrong), he only gets this small honorable mention.

Kris Wu poses with American smuggler after successful escape from
SM Island, 2014. Colorized.

BoA's Teasers for "One Shot, Two Shot" are Simply Amazing

Red Velvet - Bad Boy

Red Velvet came back with "Bad Boy" a couple of weeks ago, and boy was it a pleasant surprise. Every time I had wanted to write an article about this song, I went to r/kpopfap instead and lookup up gifs from the live performances. This is definitely Red Velvet's most aesthetically pleasing concept yet.

The Thirsty Koreaboo Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics

As you all may or may not know, the 2018 Winter Olympics are being held at Pyeongchang, South Korea or the home of our favorite people in the whole wide world. Of course, as diehard fans of Korean pop culture, we should all feel the distinct pride and honor of supporting our favorite athletes compete for gold and glory. However, the only Koreans we normally care about are the hunky namjas or hot yeoljas that perform on the stage, not the ice/snow/mountains. Who cares about figure skating or cross-country skiing outside of the every-4-year circlejerk Olympics? Does you even know anyone not-named-Kim-Yuna that is a winter Olympian?

That's why we at AKF have thoughtfully prepared a dossier to who's who at the Olympics for you to start stanning!

DISCLAIMER: Are any of these people going to win anything? Maybe not, with one exception.
Do you care? Not really.

Amanda Chou Advertises Bras for Swear

I don't have to write shit!

The Real Scandal Surrounding Sunmi's "Heroine"

Sunmi's "Heroine" came out over a week ago and there have been a million articles about the so-called plagiarism from some song in the West. I wouldn't know, as I have never listened to the other song (and have no plans to), and I don't know shit about music, so I wouldn't know if it was plagiarized or not. However, that is not the real scandal that every news outlet has ignored.

r/kpop is Sexist, Racist, and Bigoted

Teasers for Red Velvet's repackage album came out today featuring Irene and Yeri. Just for my simple admiration of Irene's beauty, r/kpop banned me for five days. "Please site on my face, Irene." I will show you how this makes the mods of r/kpop extremely bigoted.

The No True Fan Fallacy or #NotAllFans

As social media continues to grow and develop, it's become harder and harder for fandoms to keep their bullshit under wraps (not that it seems like they're particularly committed to trying). However, it almost seems like it's a game of oneupsmanship sometimes with rival fandoms practically challenging each other to do more and more over the top shit to their faves in the name of TRU FANDOM. After all, how are you going to say you love oppa the most if you don't shave your head, dress like a boy, barge your way into the men's restroom, take a pic with your oppas on the shitter, and then post it to the internet with your custom watermark as proof?? How can you really say you're a fan of your oppas if you're not willing to write them a letter with your menstrual blood and post the bloody pad inkwell as proof??

Morally Outraged Hipster Seohyun takes offense to any accusations that she is no REAL fan.

It's become all too common for fellow fans to dismiss such individuals as "lone wolves" who "don't represent the fandom as a whole" or have "mental illnesses" (Rhetoric sound familiar? It's pretty much the same as the rhetoric used to dismiss white domestic terrorists, but we won't get into that here.) as if to distance themselves from association with said people. Do you know what the MOST absolutely bullshit reason to use in this situation is though?

"Well, that's not a REAL fan."                         

                 -President of the REAL Fan Fanclub of X-Group 

To begin dissecting why that's just hilarious bullshit, you need to know a few things about logical fallacies, specifically, the No True Scotsman.

Zaku's Top 50 Songs of 2017, #25 - 1

I was slacking on finishing the rest of my list due to a combination of laziness, sickness, and work, but at least I finished right?!

Prevously: Top 50 - 26

Without further ado, here is the remainder of my top 50 list of 2017!

There are Better Ways to Support Your Oppa than YouTube Views

Many Kpop fans have been fingering their clits over how much YouTube views their favorite groups garner in a stated period of time. For example, every week Soompi has an article or seven about which Twice MV reached a certain milestone for views. Many fans brag about how viewing the MV a lot will benefit their oppas and unnies. Me being an accountant, I will show you why many of these fans are wasting their time.

The Beginning of Twice's Downfall

I have been dreading this day since Twice blew up with "Cheer Up" in 2016. By having three really fucking hot Japanese members, it didn't take a genius to know that Twice would eventually have Japanese promotions. However, Twice really blew up, and quickly became Korea's national girl group in 2016 with the releases of "Cheer Up" and "TT". Japanese promotions were imminent, and the results so far are worse than I expected.

Ivy Shao

These days I've been busy watching "The Perfect Match," which stars Ivy Shao. I discovered her in the 2016 drama "Back to 1989". I posted about her two years ago here, but I didn't do her justice.

Zaku's Top 50 Songs of 2017, #50 - 26

It's been a long time since I've actively sought out KPop songs to listen to, so you'll have to excuse me for taking a while to get back into the true swing of things. I think I've done an admirable job digesting over a year's worth of content over the span of the last couple of days. That said, there's probably huge gaping holes in my Kpop knowledge still but what's new TBH...?

Without further ado, here's my look back on 2017.

2018 Resolutions

Source

1. Posting more gifs of Cheng Xiao. Wow, that an easy!