Uncensored K-POP Opinions Cuz “POP Star Academy” Forever Ruined KATSEYE.
One, Manan is mistreated not just by Hib, but by her members as well. So during what was supposed to be a harmless Weverse Live to celebrate Catsai’s new light stick, fans found even more fuel to throw on the never-ending Manan mistreatment bonfire. Manan showed up to the stream without a light stick. She looked confused. Asked Lara if maybe she’d accidentally taken hers. She hadn’t, then noticed Yunai holding two, so she reaches for the extra one, only for Megan to immediately say it’s hers and snatch it back. That’s it. Manan spent the next 15 plus minutes on camera without a light stick, just sitting there while the fandom spiraled into another Pop Star Academy PTSD flashback. Clips went viral within hours. Not just because of the light stick thing, but because people once again used it to push the tired narrative that not only Hib, but even the members are sidelining Manon. Suddenly, it was 2023 again and people were bringing up Pop Star Academy like it just aired last week. And let me be clear, this documentary is going to haunt them forever. People were dragging up that whole arc of Manan missing rehearsals. The other girls getting annoyed and her skating through eliminations while someone like Adella who showed up to every practice got booted. And listen, I get the frustration. Do I think Manan skipping practices caused real tension? Absolutely. Do I think the show sugarcoated some of it because she was Hib’s chosen one? Very possible. But that’s not proof she was some kind of persecuted victim. The girls clearly talked it out before the finale. And since debut, they’ve been smiling, laughing, and vibing like co-workers who actually get along. So why are y’all still acting like it’s a Mean Girls reboot? It’s gotten to the point where fans are literally rewriting Adela’s words, twisting vague comments into a whole fanfic about Manan bullying her way into the final lineup. Meanwhile, Adella moved on months ago. She’s booked, busy, and nowhere near this drama. The other trainees, same. Yet here, y’all are clinging to a dramatized, heavily edited documentary like it’s a legal document. Why do some of y’all have such a weird obsession with giving Manana a victim arc? She said repeatedly that she’s fine and let’s be real, Hib pushed her. They wanted her in the lineup from day one. She got the most attention. And yes, she skipped a few practices and still made it because they saw the potential. And guess what? They were right. She’s their most popular member now. And the only black girl in the group. The last thing Hive or Geffen wants is mistreating her on camera. If anything, Manan played it smart. While other girls were overtraining into injury, Lexi, Emily, Samara, ring a bell. Manan maintained a freaking work life balance. She’s from Switzerland, a country where people actually respect rest, boundaries, and mental health. The US is a corporate meat grinder, and Korea’s idol system is even more brutal. So maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t lazy. Maybe she was sane. And while y’all were crucifying her for not crying blood at every rehearsal like Sophia, she was preserving her longevity. Take notes. I’m tired of the fake concern. This whole mistreatment narrative has become industry fan bait. What might have started as a few awkward promo mishaps has now spiraled into a media playfeeding frenzy. And I wouldn’t be shocked if hibes leaning into it on purpose. Why? Because it keeps people talking. Every time and on trends, every time fans argue, every time fan cams go viral for the wrong reasons, Cats Eye stays relevant. This comeback era alone, Cats fans beefed with half the K-pop industry. And who kept trending? You guessed it, Cats Eye. Hib knows exactly what they’re doing. So yeah, if you still think this is about a light stick, you’re not paying attention. It’s about how y’all can’t let go of a scripted two-year-old trauma narrative that was never meant to follow these girls into their actual careers. But as long as Pop Star Academy is still streaming, Cats Eye will never be allowed to move forward. No matter how many new songs they drop, thousands will continue to consume that version of the group. Like its gospel, every time a new fan stumbles across Cats Eye and searches them up, what’s the first thing they’re going to find? Pop Star Academy, which frames the group like a high school drama club where everyone was either a villain, a victim, or an afterthought. The edit wasn’t real. It was reality TV. But Netflix doesn’t come with a disclaimer. The show doesn’t say, “Hey, this is selectively edited and emotionally manipulative for views. So, new teenage fans take it as truth, then head to Twitter, Reddit, or whatever parasocial hole they came from to pick sides in a war that ended three years ago.” That show cemented fake beefs manufactured hierarchies and turned complex teenagers into stereotypes. Laura and Sophia condemned to be labeled the mean girls for eternity. Menan trapped in this weird saint versus target narrative where she’s forever the bullied one even if she herself tries to move on. The group dynamic boiled down to cat fights, favoritism, and corporate puppetry when the reality is probably a chaotic but functional sisterhood like every other idol group. And here’s the kicker. Every time something even remotely controversial happens, like Manan not getting a light stick or side eye in a behind-the-scenes clip, the fans don’t react to what’s happening now, they react to the trauma script they memorized from Pop Star Academy. They’re not protecting Manan the artist. They’re protecting Manan the character. That’s why these narratives won’t die. Because new fans don’t meet the cat’s eye of 2025, they meet the cat’s eye of 2023. Prefame, pregrowth, pre-bonding. and Netflix keeps serving that version to every fresh set of eyeballs like it’s the group’s Wikipedia page. Two, Sun-Han’s solo debut, Waste, No Time Is Here, he’s now promoting under this name. I still have no clue how to pronounce it. He’s also rolling with his own dance crew now. They’ll be performing as a trio and I think it’s a smart way to support him while he’s still finding his footing as a soloist. I checked the sales and okay, Homeboy pulled 53K on day one, way more than I expected. For reference, Lucas sold under 20K in his first week. So hopefully that means consistent promo from SM. His debut is a single album. The title track shows off his dancing the most, while the B-side Heavenly Blue leans into his vocals more. He even co-wrote some of the lyrics and choreographed the dance himself. Waste No Time smartly taps into that nostalgic early 2000s dance percussion vibe and supercharges it with a muted but super lively production. My only critique, the chorus hook is a little too repetitive, but still his vocals sound really solid. He’s not strained. He sounds comfortable, and thank God we didn’t go down the hip-hop route. This more dance focused direction fits him so much better. Three, let’s talk about phones at concerts because apparently some of y’all think your shaky 2-hour iPhone bootleg is more important than the actual live performance happening right in front of your crusty little face. There’s always that one person filming the entire show like they’re the official tour videographer for HBO. Meanwhile, their phone quality is giving 2008 Nokia in a blender. Clips of Jenny literally begging fans to put their phones down have been going viral. And honestly, she’s right. What’s the point of filming every second when one, you’ll never rewatch it. Two, the entire thing is already on YouTube in 4K. And three, your raggedy camera work is giving motion sickness. Not to mention, your phone is blocking views, suffocating the energy, and turning the crowd into a sea of dead glowing rectangles. It’s not a concert anymore. It’s a phone convention. And let’s not pretend it’s just the phones that ruin the atmosphere. Cuz when y’all raise those arms to get a better shot, the air instantly turns into a biohazard zone. Like, girl, who told y’all that vegan, vegetarian, aluminum free, all natural, Himalayan, salt, crystalenriched deodorant is better for your body. Girl, better for whose body? Cuz mine is being assaulted. So do us all a favor. Put your phone down and lower your arms. Four. Why did Lim Yong Wong ditch physical CDs? Simple. Because he’s not desperate. He’s not out here chasing chart validation or exploiting fans through industrial level guilt tripping wrapped in plastic. The man is a veteran trot singer with 11.9 billion streams on melon. Sells out entire stadiums like it’s nothing and pulled in $22 million from a single tour. So why would he need to pump out 40 useless CD versions no one listens to just to get a meaningless trophy at some rigged award show? His company announced that his upcoming album I Am Hero 2 is CD free. No piles of landfill wrapped in shrink plastic. Instead, he’s offering a photobook album with pictures, credits, and a handwritten message sold exclusively on his official store. But it doesn’t count toward charts. The industry has built a scam economy around fan manipulation, multiple versions, photo card roulette, 12-pack bundles that get played once if ever. Companies scream million seller while the actual CDs rot unopened. In closets, these idols aren’t musicians anymore. They’re glorified plastic salespeople and fans turned into hoarders with a guilt complex shamed into bulk buying because if they don’t, their bias might not win. Some critics may dismiss his motives as a marketing gimmick. Selling an album book still generates profit and limiting it to his store creates scarcity. But you guys, it’s not counted on the charts. Plus, even if there’s still profit involved, it’s more about finding a balance. Not completely ditching physicals, but doing them in a smarter way. Less versions, less packaging, less trash. The bigger issue is the whole chart system needs to be fixed too because right now it rewards bulk buying and waste but that’s not going to change anytime soon. Five. Let’s talk about the upcoming show K-pop and 8 episode global song battle dropping at the end of this month. The concept K-pop groups like Billy Sy Kepler at Kiss of Life and Black Swan are teaming up with Western artists ranging from Megan the Stallion and Patty Leel to Vanilla Ice and Kylie Manugg. Wild lineup I know. Each episode reimagines one of the Western artists iconic songs with a K-pop twist. Then a live audience votes for the winner of the night. Despite some controversial names, I’m super curious. Reinterpreting Western hits through the K-pop lens can be interesting if it’s done right. That said, I kind of wish they’d flip it, too, and have Western artists cover K-pop songs, but I’d argue K-pop’s already so westernized half the time it probably wouldn’t even feel that different. Six. Is K-pop done with music shows? Simply K-pop just ended after 13 years and it stings. It was never about big ratings or flashy sets like M Countdown, Inkyo or Music Bank. It was for the underdogs, nugus, small agencies, and the ones who couldn’t buy a slot on the real shows. Launched in 2012, it gave them an actual stage with solid production. But now it’s gone because being a cozy little sanctuary for the overlooked doesn’t exactly bring in money. Simply K-pop survived longer than anyone expected. But in the end, good intentions can’t pay the electric bill. The show quietly announced its final episode recently. No official reason was given, but it’s pretty obvious viewership was down. The budget got slashed, and even the major music shows are barely keeping it together these days. Gen Z fans don’t give a what about Friday music rankings when they can get 4K fan cams on YouTube, live stream rehearsals, or see their underage faves twerking on TikTok in under 10 seconds. agencies themselves are producing better content now. Reality shows, vlogs, dance practices, you name it. So why fight tooth and nail for a threeinut slot on a broadcast no one’s watching live anyway? What hurts the most is that simply K-pop was necessary. It was a lifeline for small agencies that couldn’t afford the pay-to-play politics of major networks. It helped launch careers, gave visibility, and acted as a stepping stone between debut and maybe someone outside our fan cafe will know our name. Losing it means we’re losing an incubator for actual talent, not just viral potential.
✨ My last video: ⬇️⬇️
0:00 – The Manon Mistreatment Saga continues
5:01 – Seunghan’s solo debut
5:59 – Phones and smelly armpits at concerts
7:06 – “Lim Young-woong” won’t sell physical CDs anymore: Progress or Hypocrisy
8:39 – The Apple Tav+ Show “KPOPPED”
9:23 – Is K-pop done with music shows? (Simply K-Pop just ending after 13 years)
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