HOW THEY RUINED LOONA

BLU BROWN, REPORTER
MARCH 3, 2023

     Blockberry Creative. Though they’ve made their biggest and only group LOONA, one of the most important girl groups of K-Pop’s fourth generation, their mistreatment and neglect of all 12 members have led the company to become one of the most hated out of any company of the industry, apart from both CUBE and SM Entertainment. But how did they go from the most successful to the most hated? 
 

A Star is Born

 

     On exactly Oct. 2, 2016, Blockberry Creative announced a girl group project that had changed the game of K-Pop forever. With everyone’s anticipation on the line, it had only taken the company 18 months to prepare, and around Jan. 2017 the first batch of members had been revealed: Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul and Yeojin. Each of these four girls released their own singles under the name “Girl of the Month”, which would continue until all 12 girls had completed the lineup. Surprisingly, the first sub-unit of the group LOONA ⅓ had also taken place as they were able to release their song “Love & Live”. Eventually, the fifth member Vivi had been revealed in April. With Kim Lip ending the first half of LOONA’s lineup in May, the rest of the girls were ready for their time to shine.

     The second sub-unit to debut had been LOONA Odd Eye Circle, consisting of Kim Lip and two new members Jinsoul and Choerry, releasing their song “Girl Front”. Around March 2018, all 12 girls were officially announced for their line-up with the last four members being shown to the public: Yves, Chuu, Gowon, and Olivia Hye. These girls had also formed the final sub-unit of the group LOONA yxyy who had debuted with their song “love4eva”, featuring the Canadian pop singer Grimes. 
 

Rising to Fame

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     After constant releases for the 18 months of LOONA’s formation, the full 12 member group made their successful debut on Aug. 19, 2018 with their lead single “favOriTe” and title track “Hi High.” With album sales racking in tons of money for the company and the song’s catchy tune making many netizens fall in love with the group, LOONA was definitely considered to be a monster rookie and one of the most praised groups in K-Pop history. Their concepts were especially an eye catching detail of theirs, as many Orbits have and still continue to contribute their theories to the lore of the LOONAVERSE. Their repacked album on the other hand didn’t match up to the successful stakes of their debut, but the album’s title track “Butterfly” made a better impression of the group instead with their beautiful choreography.

     As the group continued on with their release, Haseul took a hiatus due to mental health issues, but it didn’t stop the girls continuing with their journey. They also made their first appearance in America during KCON on Aug. 17, 2019 in Los Angeles. The group even made a bigger name for themselves once their title tracks “So What?” and “Why Not” broke barriers for the girls in Europe and got them to Number 1 on both the Billboard 200 Chart, and the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart. For LOONA’s newest comeback: “Paint the Town”, Haseul made her return to the group. 
 

Sinking Ships

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     Though LOONA seemed to be gaining more popularity and traction throughout their reign, the year of 2021 would prove to be the complete opposite for the girls. The members during this time didn’t release much music other than a collaboration with Cocomong, but soon enough they had made their Japanese debut on Sept. 15 with their main title track “Hula Hoop” with the accompanying track “Star Seed” alongside it. Surprisingly enough, Chuu had decided to file a partial injunction to suspend her contract with Blockberry.

     A year later, she had been absent due to health reasons while the other members had been busy with other plans associated with her schedule, such as competing on the survival show Queendom 2 and releasing their special summer mini album “Flip That”. 
 

Back to the Trenches 

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     On Nov. 25 2022, one single event had not only changed the history of K-pop once again but even made Blockberry Creative become one of the most hated companies out of the industry. After hearing that Chuu had been removed from the group, not only did the fans get enraged, but so did netizens from the statement. Since then, the community had banded together to boycott the company for their next comeback, causing an indefinite postponement with their success. 

     Jan. 13 of 2023 was when things really crashed and burned even further for the company. News about the other members had been released: Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, and Choerry were able to be free from the label with their injunctions. As for Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Go Won, and Olivia Hye, they were denied by the court as they previously amended parts of their contracts. Vivi and Hyunjin filed their contract suspension later on Feb. 3.
 

The Next Step 

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     As all 12 girls are still on their fight against the company, there’s not much for Orbits and other netizens to do but to continue and support the members as well as continuing to boycott anything the company does for them. Luckily enough, LOONA’s Japanese label Universal Music even decided to help out the group and their releases if all of the members are free from Blockberry, so hopefully they’ll transfer to becoming a J-Pop group soon. 

     The girls could even move to another label if they wanted, but it seems as if their path in Japan will be a better fit for them.