My Impressions of LOOΠΔ [&] Reveals Thus Far
UPDATED: I have since added all TWELVE reveals of the girls from LOOΠΔ, each with a total of THREE styling / concept images, for the following girls (*By chronological order of their Debut Reveals, NOT by the order of Reveals for [&] :p):
HyunJin
HaSeul
YeoJin
ViVi
Kim Lip
JinSoul
Choerry
Yves
Chuu
Go Won
Olivia Hye
Indulge me as I attempt to delve into the reveals thus far, specifically for the Concept / Styling images, revealed on their socials between Thursday night, June 3rd, to Sunday June 6th, and as well "where" and "when" to look forward to teasers and reveals!
If you have not gathered by now, I am considering myself to be a "new fan" of LOOΠΔ, and will attempt to share my basic knowledge and understanding, as a "beginner". Thank you for your patience :)
The "first" styles showcase the girls with their designated colors in the background! If you have read thru my "INTRODUCING LOONA series thus far, you might recognise each member has a designated COLOR for them...
HyunJin (Yellow)
HaSeul (Green)
YeoJin (Orange)
ViVi (Light Pink)
Kim Lip (Red) JinSoul (Main: Blue / Sub: Black)
Choerry (Main: Purple / Sub: White)
Yves (Burgundy)
Chuu (Peach)
Go Won (Main: Eden Green / Sub: Mint)
Olivia Hye (Main: Silver / Sub: Black)
The photography style is what seems to be the latest trend of excessive "flash" shone on the subject (which I personally do not enjoy), which is reminiscent of the glared-out and contrasted aspect of 90s' pop (seen before in LOONA 1/3's "비의 목소리 51db(Rain 51db)", and ViVi's "Everyday I Love You" MVs), which I can still enjoy and appreciate the "nostalgic qualities" of lol
As mentioned in my earlier commentary about BBC going for a more "mature/grown-up" look for the girls (thus far), they seemed more "aged-up", with YeoJin graduating recently as well, and entering young adulthood, IMHO. The "[12:00]"-era was interesting as they both showed the girls embracing youth and party, while also "growing up" to the pantsuit and night-time party dresses (*The Converse sneakers were BEST lah - the last visage of "youth" :p).
The second "styling" seems to be veered towards a more gothic/"Baroque-esque" vibe, with opulent filigree detailing, and a somewhat classical-possibly-Greek mythology tone, paralleling the first revealed "archway" teaser, and as importantly emojis used alongside the image reveals (on their socials). The iconology is a carry over from the yyxy-era - which back then felt a harsher juxtaposition against the youth-exuberance of the girls, but is heavily influenced by their Budapest shoots and esepcially the MV location, and an olden European flavour.
The visuals are quite airy and perhaps even "dream-like", with the softness enveloping the girls making them look like "angels", where some would be more comfortable calling them "Goddesses" (for which I will not argue with you, cheers). The somewhat monotone palette of their clothes/dresses, accented by the gold, gives off an immediate "classic(al)" feeling, hopefully none too garish like "90s'-Armani" kitsch...! I am unsure of the "dark blue" tint seen is the effect of reflected light? Or actual color used tho...
The third and final "look/styling" shows a decidedly underlit "environment" and closer look at the girls, complete with "fierce" gaze (ViVi can stomp on me for all day for all I care OMG), in front of rock-formations in the background. Doesn't look like "moon craters" tho (an imagery seen in "Why Not?" Moon-surface dance :p) ... or perhaps these are from "Mount Olympus"? Modern-interpretations of togas and wrap-dresses?
Are the three different stylings supposed to represent the three different "worlds" in the LOONAVERSE? The world where Odd Eye Circle ("Middle Earth" / what I call "Fictional Now"), Loona 1/3 ("Earth" / what I call "Nostalgia"), and yyxy (Eden / what I call "Faux-Utopia" or possibly a "Dystopian Future") exists? Or have they crossed over each other, and created NEW worlds?
When I first delved into LOONA, I'd initially felt the three sub-units represented different "timelines" specifically of what "Girl Groups" is and are to different folks ... "LOONA 1/3" was the nostalgia of girl groups "we rmemebered to be, back in the day" (AKA "The Past") ... while "Odd Eye Circle" is the NOW, the "Present", where stories collide, and the infusion of comicbook culture tears thru the pop culture fabric (*By the way: I read comics and watch anime, and agree to ALL THESE lol) ... and finally with "yyxy", they represented a "utopia" of "What Girl Groups Are To Be" AKA "studied up and out thru the system of mass production" to achieve a place in "(K)Pop Nirvana" ... is this the "Future" we aspire to...?
This current round of reveals leaves me somewhat unsure of my initial musings, and frankly I'll attempt to delve into a connection perhaps...? Or perhaps I should just stop talking+typing to the Void, and enjoy my LOONA comeback... LOL
Regardless my abject lack of productive brain-juices, we seem to be headed towards a strong(er) "lore", that had been somewhat been overtaken by the deviation of musical direction of the "LOONA-sound" ("So What", and "Why Not" eras), IMHO. But of course stakes are different now, as tales need to evolve and unfold ... and as folks in Kpop have begun to spin their fictional world-building stories and create their own lores, I certainly hope to be able to keep up with the LOONAVERSE...!
CONNECTING WITH LOONA
LOONA's socials I am currently actively following include Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The image(s) on their Insta account follows a grid formation, which instead full images are revealed in full and individually via their Twitter and Facebook, for optimum viewing, IMHO. Text in captions remain the same, except for Instagram, which we see emojis being posted in addition - which can be fun, if not "illuminating"...?
As well I am subscribed to their YouTube channel for any moving visuals/teaser drops, but in reality they will be promoted on their socials anyways, so no FOMO there :p
REVEAL TIME(S)
Fans are speculating on the exact times of reveals/release/uploads, and how it'll relate to the lore, when instead I'm simple minded enough to think BBC is setting up a time for folks to expect the "6pm KST/Korean Standard Time" release of [&] on June 28th...? I'll delve into this as we get closer to D-Day, I suppose... KST is one-hour further from Singapore time, so it'll be 7pm here on 2021.6.28 when it drops? Or maybe that's none too convenient as it's too close to dinner time, IMHO.
The first three reveal times on Thursday June 3rd were: HaSeul at 7pm, Yeojin at 9am and ViVi at 11pm, with subsequerrnty releases of three girls per day, at the exact same timings. Would this be a "pattern" for future releases as well?
Prior to the still images reveal, I'd been used to the "11AM" uploads of LOONA TV (11am SG time / 10am KST), and LOONA LOGS on their YouTube channel, and sometimes (exceedingly rare but not unheard of), uploads at 11PM. No weekend uploads on theit YT channels though. It would be interesting to see subsequent uploads for [&], where the day time "11AM" uploads ight cater todomestic Asia timezones, while the night time "11PM" might garner more effectifve impact in Western timezones... The way I live my life right now? I'll be up for both of them timezones ~ LOL
Interestingly, for their [12:00] promotional period, 3 members were released each time/day (totally 11 members). With the current full 12 member back, with 3 members per AStyling reveal, would we be seeing batches/groups of 3 Member reveals, with each full cycle featuring 4 reveals? This post alone proves I am overhtinking everything, and could very welll be chillaxing instead, and just enjoy whatever comes my way ... easier said than done, buddy! LOL
Meanwhile I've only JUST received my batch of LOONA-albums, so YES, I am in deep, cheers.
Releases 2021.6.28 pm6 (KST)
loonatheworld.com
YouTube Channel
twitter.com/loonatheworld
facebook.com/loonatheworld
instagram.com/loonatheworld
weibo.com
blockberrycreativeshop.com
LOONA & on TUNESTALKSG
LOONA on TUNESTALKSG
ADDED: If for any reason you do not want to purchase their album via regular source(s), or for when availability is scarce (if you happen to find this blog-feature "later" after stock is depleted :p), the following are listings on Amazon (with a noticeable price difference FYI), for your considerations, cheers.
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