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[For K-pop beginners] What is a comeback?

[For K-pop beginners] What is a comeback?
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[For K-pop beginners] What is a comeback?

pen（K-POPFor fans, the “comeback” of their favorite group is the long-awaited day—and in a sense, it’s also the signal that the battle begins.

However, if you’ve only just started listening to K-pop, you’re probably thinking, “What on earth does that mean?”

And it might be puzzling why not only the fans in the home country but also fans everywhere don’t so much get excited as… practically turn it into a battle.

Today, I’m going to introduce the much-mysterious “comeback” (kambaeu).

What is a comeback?

For K-pop fans, comeback periods are something you can’t ignore when supporting your favorite group.

In Korean컴백(Pronounced something like 'komube'), and those with sharp intuition may have already noticed,COME BACK = ComebackIt is about.

When a group promotes their music activities (such as TV appearances and events) with a new album.I will say it.

Roughly, it's about a month.

Even among comebacks,The very first music show we’ll appear on will be the comeback stage.It is called (Comeback Stage: Komubessteiji).

This is because, although the timing differs throughout the year, K-pop idols—regardless of the group—tend to carry out their activities in roughly the same way.

  1. Announcement of a comeback
  2. Comeback with an album release
  3. Comeback Stage (컴백스테이지)
  4. comeback promotions
  5. Goodbye stage (굿바이스테이지). If promotions on music shows do not end here, go to 6; if there is no repackaged album, go to 8.
  6. Come back again with a repackaged album
  7. Goodbye stage of the repackaged album (굿바이스테이지)
  8. Concert activities
  9. Heading into a recharge period for the next comeback

We usually release an album once a year, so fans wait excitedly for the comeback for anywhere from a few months to about a year.

The actual comeback scene

Well then, let's actually take a look at the comeback.

This time, I used WINNER—who made a comeback on April 4, 2018 with their 2nd album “EVERYD4Y”—as an example.

WINNER was planned by YG Entertainment.BIGBANGThey are the group that debuted in 2014 as the winning team of the survival audition program 'WIN: Who Is Next,' which aimed to debut a second boy group to follow.

We’ll give you a brief overview of the activities.

3/23: Comeback announcement; a teaser conveying the album’s image and the release date are revealed.

After this, various other types of image teasers were also released one after another.

3/28: The album's tracklist is released

3/29: The MV teaser is released.

It’s not the entire music video, but something that conveys the vibe of the song and concept.

Not just the photos—it's really exciting when you can get a sense of the song's vibe beforehand, isn't it?

4/3: Announcement on V LIVE

V LIVE, where you can enjoy celebrities’ live and VOD videos on mobile, is fun because it feels like idols and fans are closer than on platforms like YouTube.

https://twitter.com/ygent_official/status/981169450689925120

4/4: Finally, comeback day

Picking up the CD I’d reserved when it arrived, or going to get it myself, or downloading it...

It's a hectic day of replaying the music video released on YouTube over and over.

There was also a notification from Apple Music about the album release, and that was in English too!

For overseas pen pals, English is really helpful, isn’t it?

On the 5th, it reached No. 1 on seven charts, including Korean music streaming sites MelOn, Genie, and NAVER MUSIC.

However, in fact, this can be said to be not only a sign of the idol’s popularity but also proof of the fans’ tireless efforts…!

https://twitter.com/ygent_official/status/981462199410442241

4/8: The long-awaited comeback stage is on Inkigayo.

The precious period when we can see our favorite idol on TV starts from here.

Actually, there was an opportunity for fans to participate in a recording called “sanok” (사녹, short for pre-recording), and you can hear the enthusiastic chants from the passionate fans.

There are music programs called THE SHOW, SHOW CHAMPION, M! COUNTDOWN, Music Bank, Music Core, and Inkigayo, and idols who have made a comeback perform their songs on TV one after another.

Basically, we will perform the title track at all programs.

When they make a comeback, there’s a fansign event as a perk for those who bought the CD.

To take part, there is the pen members’ heart-wrenching effort.

When they make a comeback like this, there are tons of unmissable activities besides the CD release—appearances on music shows, V LIVE, variety shows and radio, autograph sessions, and more events!

Although South Korea is overseas, I think it has the advantage of having no time difference with Japan, making it easy to follow events in real time.

Is a comeback a war for fans?!

When (they) make a comebackIt will be reflected in the record (CD sales) charts, the digital (music streaming/download) charts, and the rankings on music programs.。

This is very important, and my pen is working overtime...A kind of battleIt is.

Listening to my favorite idol’s songs and enjoying them freely at my own pace is the best, but I also want them to win lots of first places, so I get really fired up.

For that purpose,The fans united as one to support the comeback.I am doing it.

I hope to write about each way of supporting on another occasion.

That said,Let’s support them truly at our own pace, in a way that isn’t a strain!

What is a repack?

We talked about “comeback,” but there is also something called a repackaged album (리패키지 앨범: ripekiji eireubom).

We call it “repake” for short.

This isAn album that adds a new title track to an already-released albumIt is.

The track list doesn’t change drastically, but most releases switch up the concept—like the visual imagery—so they have a different vibe.

What once had a mature image has now taken on a cute vibe—it's varied.

The CD booklet will be different, and the included photo cards and other bonuses will also change.

Those seeing the CD booklet for the first time might be surprised, but it’s pretty much a photo book.

When there’s a repackage, they make a comeback on music shows with the title track, so it’s nice to be able to see a lot of their promotions.

For example, the first full-length album by the hugely popular girl group Twice, which debuted in 2015, was released in October 2017.

01. LIKEY02. TURTLE03. MISSING U04. WOW05. FFW06. DING DONG07. 24/708. LOOK AT ME09. ROLLIN`10. LOVE LINE11. DON'T GIVE UP12. YOU IN MY HEART13. GOOD NIGHT

Subsequently, a repackage was released in December 2017.

01.Heart Shaker02.Merry＆Happy03. LIKEY04. Turtle05. Missing U06. WOW07. FFW08. Ding Dong09. 24/710. Look at Me11. Rollin`12. Love Line13. Don’t Give Up14. You in My Heart15. Good Night

New songs have been added as the first and second tracks.

And since the release coincided with December, the Christmas season, the added tracks are Christmas songs, and the packaging is in a Christmas design as well.

In repackaged releases like this, we change the concept, and sometimes we also align it with the season.

In conclusion

This time, we introduced the word “comeback,” which is essential for supporting K-pop idols.

When there’s an announcement about my favorite idol’s comeback, fans get restless.

I think it’s really fun to look forward each day to the photos and teasers being released gradually in sequence.

And of course, besides looking forward to the new song, a big event is seeing how many crowns it can win on the charts and music shows.

If you get the chance, be sure to cheer for the comeback in real time!

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