Understanding LOONA: Fan-Made Videos & My Journey So Far
There are various ways to enjoy LOONA, starting with the basic: LISTENING TO THEIR SONGS - with a discography that had appealed greatly to my eclectic "mixtape"-style consumption of songs, as well a very huge nostalgic tone of their pre-debut releases, including late-80s and 90s-influenced soundscape - for which folks on my TUNESTALKSG-blog would know by now (yes, I am assuming folks are reading this blog, thank you), is my preferred way of audio enjoyment.
LOONA's music videos are perfectly archived on their official YouTube channel - along with exceedingly appreciated organised archive of their other moving visual videos - from LOONA TV, to LOONA LOGs, to their LOONA THE TAM travel videos (Season One + Season Two! Just do not expect their full concerts or VLIVEs (tons of channels mirror this content, Thank You). But if you search with accurate words, you'd also find Audio Only clips of their discography and tracks on specific albums (you just need to find the right Playlists).
Not to mention purchasability online of physical albums (stockage is sometimes the problem), and of course online streaming sources - soemthing which I cannot provide better information for, as I've not streamed nor downloaded any songs digitally, ever. #truestory
What I personally feel is an important aspect of LOONA, are the sheer visuals associated with them - and in this particular instance - the cinematography and design, the look of their Music Videos. Far from your regular "Kpop"-style we've all come to love and enjoy, LOONA's earlier pre-debut MVs were largely filmed outdoors and in a open environment and on-location, with only their recent MVs Viking the domestic Kpop, with "Star". I can go at length abouut this (Second) Level of Enjoying LOONA, and probably will indulge myself in another seperate blog-feature(s), cheers :)
The third level of enjoying and appreciating LOONA, is via the story-telling aspect of the lore, for what folks term the "LOONAVerse", whereby a web of evolving theories and partial story-telling keep folks and fans guessing, in a midst of world-building in this current age, threatening folks with a lesser appetite for decipher, and instead want to told a complete story, to opt out.
In many ways, I certainly hope this aspect of LOONA does not keep fans away, IMHO. Think "Easter Eggs" and of a (spiralling) thread of connectivity throughout LOONA's music videos, and you can enjoy the questions, more than the answer you seek, IMHO.
The fourth and final level of enjoying LOONA, are the GIRLS themselves. Through their various promotions and interactions on online channels, to variety shows, to their own LOONA TV "reality tv"-styled 1-minuter episodes, we get to see their individual colour and aspects of who they are, in front of the camera, and sometimes not. I am contemplating a standalone blogpost for my favourites, least I seem a "creeper", but...
This is "Understanding LOONA", not "Understanding Kpop", cheers :)
Adding to that level itself, is the inception of the group itself as well, and while the basic standard way of recruiting performers might be "standard Kpop", and have started the ball rolling, the introduction and presenting LOONA and the members to the general public, is a different story and tact than your "Standard Kpop". To us the casual viewer, it might just seem like a "gimmick", but imagine for these young ladies, what they had to go thru, and continue to go thru, to achieve what they now experience, and continue to be humble, brings a certain amount of respect for them, IMHO.
And if you cannot respect the artists that perform for you, then that's all they will be to you: A Performer at the other side of the screen, which for all intents and purposes, mayhap that's all you are looking for? All good, either way :)
As a middle-aged, male heterosexual fan of LOONA, I have been going at this alone in my enjoyment of this South Korean girl group. From discovering them online, to learning their history and uncovering their discography, to even posting about them now. Sure there are online sources I refer to consistently (Shoutout to @orrery_nim, @gointosubbit and @loonapress on Twitter - for clear, concise and accurate information and translations), along with a myriad of reaction videos on YouTube, being an opportunity to share in opinions (silently), or differing impressions (still silently :p), as I continue to "consume" internally, while now attempting to share externally via this blog and blogposts, but to no one specifically am I able to share, openly or otherwise. I am essentially fan-boying to myself lah ~ LOL
That said, when I started this journey, THESE were the videos I devoured, to help me understand, appreciate, and love LOONA, through the years. And I hope they would be entertaining and informative for you as well, in your journey into understanding LOONA.
Please also undertand some, if not most information might be repeated and crossed over, but that's meant to help you "understand further" (hurhur). Also note I am choosing to skip drama, rumors and "accusations" (in recent days). Posted in no particular chronological order, along with my basic commentary on what the video (to me) is about:
"This Is How LOONA Was Formed" by InternetsNathan (Uploaded "7 Feb 2020") is a nice primer to well, how LOONA was formed!
The following "Story of the LOONAverse & Hi High MV Analysis" by Daebak Jjang (Uploaded "4 Sept 2018") was actually one of my first fan-made videos I discovered, while tracking down/backwards their solo debuts subsequently ... he has more Analysis videos on his YouTube channel tho...!
"The Avengers of Kpop: A Story of LOONA" by The Asian Theory (Uploaded 5 Oct 2019) is one of the more well known (to state the obvious) videos about LOONA, which featured an impressive production quality, and as "important" = gave us an actual "face" to the video, with host Paul Bacera - providing a level of "authenticity+validity" to what has been presented in other videos, which most times feature spoken audio / narration only. Well, it mattered to me, so...
The following "The Inconstant Moon A History of LOONA" (by Mera) is a re-upload, and provides a historical and chronological account of LOONA's history, much like The Asian Theory's, but with poetic flair, vim and vinegar :p
"an (un)helpful guide to LOONA [OT12]" (Uploaded "9 May 2018")
The following series by Loominosity is the most in-depth and updated (2020) videos describing LOONA, the LOONA lore, as far as I am aware of right now. By their third video, they delve into "LOONA 1/3", but has since stopped uploading after. I am certainly waiting for more...! Warning: the following videos are very dense, but exceeding concise!
LOONAverse Basics 2: Common Misconceptions (Uploaded "29 May 2020")
LOONAverse Basics 3: LOONA 1/3 and YeoJin (Uploaded "1 Nov 2020")
The following are a couple of more fan-made videos - in fact, ALL of the videos showcased here ARE - which I felt are worth a watch, IMHO.
"The Loonaverse" by SuA's SinB (Uploaded "27 Dec 2020")
I started my LOONA journey quite by accident. I had been preparing for my class (I used to Adjunct for a local Technical College) where essentially students were to craft a "music video" - produce, film and edit a MV based off songs that they'd secure copyright(s) for, specifically for this module.
I had been looking up examples of Asia-related MVs, which ran the gamut of Singapore, Indonesia, Japanese, and yes, South Korean MVs. I had been a pedestrian fan of Big Bang for some time, so they were a easier reference find, but I had been off Kpop for far too long ... and then I discovered BLACKPINK, and devoured their WHISTLE era onwards...! It was thru this journey of discovery, I had chanced upon LOONA - more likely with Kim Lip's ECLIPSE - and have not looked back since.
Since discovering their discography, I backtracked and googled/wikipedia'd to find out more about these twelve girls, and their songs, PLUS their sub-units, and quite frankly it was a daunting endeavour to assimilate ... thank goodness for THESE videos...!
This is an exceptional edit from @BeanHeartsRV (Featuring narration from NCTmentary. Song is "italics" by Lorn), which doesnot necessarily address the lore directly, but ... "DREAM series - Episode 1: On the nature of Dream [LOONA]".
Aside: When I showed my BLACKPINK video playlist to the students, they laughed at my face and even told me "But we don't listen to Kpop!", missing the purpose of the MVs in the first place, but the point was moot, as I no longer lecture at the college. No, I am not bitter .... LOL
Cheers,
Andy TOYSREVIL
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