Why I stan

 Before I go any further with the stepwise story of how my present k-pop preoccupation came to be, I would like to briefly discuss something that other people would often ask us.

K-pop is a genre of musical entertainment, but for some it has come to mean a whole lot more. There is an entire spectrum of types of people who have grown to appreciate it, from your casual music lover, right down to the hardcore loyalists who have absolute devotion to only one group and have pledged their allegiance to one fandom only (although from personal experience, this often changes as the individuals in question grow older and move on from that phase of fiery fandom in their life). The latter may have a subset of what they call "toxic fans" who engage in endless fanwars and often resort to unpleasant tactics when they feel that their biases are being threatened. Don't be like them. 😅

That being said, K-pop may mean a lot of different things for different people. My personal journey began at a low point in my life where things weren't going so well.. It was a sad time for me, but I would like to think that becoming a fan gave me something to focus on or something to hold on to as I struggled to get my life back together bit by bit. Being part of a fandom, cheering for foreigners I didn't know and would have zero chance of meeting anyway, granted me a brief escape from an otherwise unpleasant reality. It wasn't all about the escapism though.. As corny as it may seem, seeing these idols succeed after all they have been through, had lit a fire under me an inspired me to do better as well. I found comfort and solace in their music despite not understanding the lyrics at first (thank you, English subbers!), and I guess it helped me pull together and get on with my life.  I guess it has something to do with reliability? Its like, the world may go to shit, but at least I still have their music waiting for me at the end of the day.. Being a part of a fandom gives you a sense of community, that you are not alone in spite of everything, and even though you are exchanging superficial comments in a discussion thread with complete strangers, it still felt great to have some common ground.

K-Pop gave a bit more meaning to my life, in a manner of speaking.  Applying this to the present day, it may have not had an impact in my chosen career per se, but it certainly made my commute going to and coming from work a great deal more enjoyable! Plus, artist comebacks are always a bonus to look forward to at the end of a long hard day. 😁

So yeah, that's the root of my fandom. It evolved out of a need to have something to hold on to in order to stay focused and grounded, and has now grown into so much more.. 😊

- B. Oppa

Beginning the journey..

My first exposure to K-Pop was around 2009 when I was still in internship. That was when "Nobody" by the Wonder Girls began making the rounds in the mainstream. Everywhere you went, the catchy tune "I want nobody, nobody bachuu"  could be heard. From children's parties to public transportation, it became a viral sensation during the time when YouTube was still in it's infancy (FYI: YouTube was established around 2005).

I didn't pay much attention at that time. All I knew was that it was made by some girl group in South Korea and that it was really so catchy! I saw the music video on MTV several times, and I sometimes saw the CDs being sold at the local record stores, but that was pretty much it. I guess I was too preoccupied with schoolwork to really care at that time. Little did I know that this first exposure to what is now called the "second generation" of idol stars would just be a taste of things to come..

Fast forward a year to 2010 when Super Junior first caught my attention because of their runaway hit "Sorry Sorry". Just like "Nobody" that came before, it quickly caught fire at the local scene, and could be heard far and wide. I guess it was also around this time when I first heard that Super Junior had such a big fandom (I didn't know ELFs were called by that name yet) and began hearing about their sold-out concerts and such.

At first I scoffed at all these fangirls going gaga over a group of guys from a farway land, and I underestimated the power of fandom... Boy, was I about to be proven WRONG.. :P

So now we move forward to yet another year when I was about to start another phase in my medical training. I thought 2011 was going to be a typical year.. Then I first saw the music video for Gee on a local music channel..

Whoa.. 😲

That was honestly my first ever reaction to them. Hehe. The song was just so damn catchy, and Girls' Generation's legendary visuals were absolutely stunning! 😍 I had missed the opening (and the ending), so I didn't see the title of the song or name of the group since I was just channel surfing at the time. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the song was pretty much stuck in my head, and I felt absolutely compelled to search for the song the following day, only knowing that the chorus went "Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee" :P I even devoted time to watch the music channel again to see if I would be lucky enough to catch another glimpse. Eventually I found it on the web, and within a few minutes, I was hooked, and thus began my journey down the rabbithole..

I went through what I now would think would be a normal progression for new kpop stans. First I was curious about who the members were, and spent a great deal of time learning to tell them apart. Naturally I progressed to seeing more of their work in the other MVs and their discography. Hungry for more, I discovered the fandom by way of the international fansite Soshified.com, where I signed up and discovered a massive community that was supporting the girls. Within the forum I learned of their individual and collective journey, as well as the wonders of variety show appearances! Within a few short weeks, I found myself wading in knee deep into a wild world of HD performance videos, TV and Radio appearances, and translated interviews. I was moved by the stories of all their ups and downs as an up and coming idol group, and cheered at the continuous successes they encountered through the years as they established themselves as the "Nation's Girl Group" which, along with their Super Junior labelmates, pretty much put Korea in the map way back in the early 2010s.

The story doesn't stop here of course, and there is so much more to tell, but I guess that will be for another time 😉

- B. Oppa

Welcome Warning

Welcome to K-Pop Catharsis! A space on the web where I, along with a fellow MD/Kpopper, will be posting about our favorite artists/groups as well as some opinions about releases/news, and other K-pop stuff in general. I have been thinking about doing this project for quite some time, but never really got around to starting it due to time constraints. I have long wanted to have a little space to post exclusively about my growing K-Pop interest, and the time feels ripe to just wade right in.

We do not claim to be experts in the genre, and opinions are solely the author's. Dissenting opinions in the comments leading to friendly intelligent discourse are welcome, but like we stated in the description above, We don't have time for hate and bullying here, and insults will not be tolerated, so kindly take your juvenile antics elsewhere if you don't like what is posted. We have no obligation to prove ourselves right and prove you wrong, so we're not about to take any homework assignments from you just to satisfy your pitiful need to seem superior even though you are not.

All that being said, please enjoy the blog, and if you don't, well, too bad.

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* I just realized that there are a number of other blogs/accounts on different platforms/SocMed named Kpop Catharsis. This is in no way affiliated to those, and We have no intention of stealing away their established fanbases/followers. So if you're here by accident, just click the BACK button on your browser and search again for your faves. I won't take it personally. No hatred here.😇

- B. Oppa