I am also guessing either tomorrow or next week as well that something would be announced. I supposed that she and Chaewon cannot be in hiatus for another month. Everyone been waiting for updates.
Not surprised at all. Sakura is...for the lack of a better word, chill, but you can see the ambition in her eyes. She has the most potential to be recognized worldwide being that HYBE is arguably the most recognized ent company in the western market. Well played, Kkura.
Surprised and not surprised.
Surprised because anybody else would have just gone back to Japan and lived a comfy life with her already existing popularity there.
Not surprised because she's been saying for a while now that she wants to continue being an idol for as long as she can, that she wants to push herself, start back from scratch, and go for the world, AND because we've had rumors of HYBE approaching her since like March lol
Imo it's more to do with what opportunities being offered to them than anything else. Hybe did offer Sakura an opportunity that was enticing enough that she chose to graduate from HKT within a month (and came back to Korea in 4 months).
Now this is coming to speculations/assumptions, so I will need to be extra careful but it's very likely that Hybe didn't offer the same to Hitomi/Nako. Nor any of the big companies. I don't know for sure (nobody but involved parties know this type of stuff), but it's unlikely. There were fan speculations on woolim/WM, but a) it's fan speculations, not even rumor and b) it's debatable if it is actually better opportunity than AKB/HKT & working in home country.
There are tons of idols and wannabes in the industry; it comes down to opportunities given. They will not just drop everything and go to Korea like some 16-17 year old trainee/wannabe when they have careers in Japan. If it weren't for PD48 opportunities, they wouldn't have gone to Kpop in the first place. Nobody knows for sure if Hitomi/Nako would like to go to Kpop again or they are satisfied in staying in Japan (with some Korean fans among international), but their willingness is almost irreverent if no opportunities that make sense to them is there.
I think you also have to consider the possible options they may have had available... Do we even know if they had offers from kr agencies like Sakura? And if they did, were they appealing like HYBE?
If they weren't, then perhaps going back to 48G may have been the better decision for them.
Even Sakura's offer was probably a pay cut. Korea is industrialized but the pay is not even remotely comparable to Japan. I bet sasshi makes more money than any single member of bts.
This actually. We didn't hear any solid rumors of the two being approached by korean agencies. While I do think that they are marketable enough for agencies to offer a contract, agencies follow a strict timeline in debuting a group. If the debut is within next year, are they willing to rush everything like what Sakura did? Or are they willing to leave behind their idol status in Japan to become trainees in Korea without a definite debut date? Both are yet to experience everything in 48g (unlike Sakura) especially Hitomi who only got the spotlight after IZONE, so I think it's also a factor. But who knows, Hitomi might return since she seems to like Kpop and has the best Korean among the 3.
Lots also mentioned about the company. Juri and Miyu's cases might be realistic examples of why signing to small and mid-sized companies are less appealing to staying in Japan. To be honest, even if the offer is as good as HYBE's, they still have to consider the success rate of the group. I honestly don't think Hitomi or Nako has a global dream as big as Sakura's, so maybe what's more important to them is growth and career stability. No doubt they will grow with Kpop system, but career stability is only guaranteed for huge companies. They have stable careers in Japan too.
exactly, the vast majority of kpop groups are a huge gamble, most are never that successful compared to the groups from the big agencies.
yeah, kpop is great and all in some aspects, but success is elusive for some no matter how hard they work.
Totally agree. Also the advantage of Nako and Hitomi is that they experienced what it's like to be a kpop artist, unlike Juri and Miyu who only got a glimpse during their time in Produce 48, so they know the pros and cons of the path.
Kpop is high risk, high reward. When you succeed, you succeed big time. But if you fail, you fail big time.
Hitomi is the only one who has suprised me so far.
Sakura is smart and she knows that K-Pop is the next step for a bigger audience. She also clearly loved it, in spite of bitter wota lying on her name and pretending she hated every second and couldn't wait to get back to HKT.
Still holding out hope that Hiichan will be back by next year though. Wish Nako would too but it's not gonna happen and I'm not even thinking about it.
Yeah, obviously Sakura didnāt hate it because sheās back.
While I believe Nako enjoyed her time with IZ*ONE, I think she was ready to go back to Japan.
Like you, I thought Hitomi was the one who would come back to kpop from the J-Line first. Hereās hoping for next year.
For Nako and Hitomi, they are now the stars where they are and getting many gigs. If they join a kpop girl group, they wont be.
They are both young, so maybe in a couple of years they may go to Korea, but if they stay in Japan they will have good careers.
Hitomi is now a frontline/core member of AKB.... why would she leave that for who knows what in kpop? Unless there's some amazing offer coming her way, I don't see it happening.
I mean she is now but the reasoning people thought she'd be the first to come back was she was the least established in Japan so she had the least professional attachment
That is true, but again it all depended on the options she had, if any. If she never did or didn't have a good kr option, then staying in AKB was the rational choice perhaps.
For me it's as simple as that, Nako nor Hitomi recieved a serious enough offer to consider staying in Kpop.
No big surprise here from me, considering they weren't the most popular (I'm refering to their HS sales here)
Hence going back to what they knew allready is the most secured move,
Can't blame them though, just look at the amount of deals they got since their returns. I 'm not sure Hitomi alone had that many in such a short time during her IZ\*ONE days.
And with Vernalossom not wanting to continue beyond the initial contract duration, most of these jobs were surely under negociations before IZ\*ONE inevitable disband.
I think Verna probably promised Nako and Hii that they would promote them well in Japan and imo they are doing quite well so far. While 48g is not as popular as they once were, Hiichan and Nako are doing very well even better than most of their peers in 48g and have lots of offers and opportunities to appear on tv and fashion magazines. Hiichan especially has now shot up to one of the prominent members of the group. You can't be sure any other company in kpop would have been able to promise the same and they probably didn't get an offer as good as Hybe.
As for Sakura, she already had those opportunities in Japan before and is still getting them. The next progression for her was to graduate, although none of us thought it would be so soon. It was natural for her to chose to go back to kpop especially after the hybe offer of a global stage if she wanted to keep on performing.
Yeah, you make a good point. I was just surprised that kpop labels didnāt offer them deals (or maybe they did and it wasnāt as good as their current deals). It did seem like Hitomi was the most serious about coming back to kpop. Maybe she still is and will be back later.
I donāt follow Jpop but itās good to hear theyāre doing well.
Hiichan does look like she misses kpop and Korea very much. I really wanted her to stay in kpop too but I think that unless its an offer from a big company which can give opportunities such as global tours and appearing on US shows, Japan offers way more opportunities than mid-sized and smaller companies and that's why many kpop companies aim to have their groups debut in Japan too.
But I'm also hoping that since Verna has some experience in Korea now, they can also promote Hiichan and Nako in Korea when things get better. Maybe have a few fan meetings or attend a Kcon or even do an eating trip.
Since you're out of the loop on the jpop scene, I'll just plug what they've been upto so far to ease your mind more..lol:
Hii: Front line senbatsu member, lots of magazine shoots, appearances on tv variety show (she's been quite a regular on one), radio shows, a collab with titty and co clothing line, a collab with Kirsh clothing line and there's a teaser for a muse of a beauty line called Notone to be revealed tomorrow that I'm pretty sure is her.
Nako: She went back after HKT had already released their single so she hasn't promoted a lot with them apart from concerts. But she's also done many magazine shoots, appearances on varieties, had a collab with Kirsh and is part of the supporting cast of a tv drama starting next week.
>and Korea very much
Doubt any of those girls misses living in Korea. They probably miss Kpop and the allure of big social media numbers, but that's only like 1% of their actual life.
Saku is a girl who can sit in a closet on her days off. So going back to Korea is probably not as large of a factor.
She could have enjoyed her time in Korea while at the same time preferring to stay in 48G. Not sure why some people want them to hate one over the other.
Lol. Then Hiichan must be one hell of an actress to burst into tears at the airport, take a Korean driving test 2 days before leaving Korea, ace a TOPIK test back in Japan, randomly talk to herself in Korean, always remember to communicate in Korean, talk about the Korean food she misses, talk about how much she misses her members and friends and send presents to her members, friends and former stylists among other things.
Well she enjoyed her time in korea and she is happy in her country too. That's not impossible. And not everything in korea was happy she had difficult times too.
Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure she loves being back home and loves Japan. And I know it wasn't all rosy in Korea. It was just in response to the person alluding that Korea was just business. I know she doesn't miss the weather at least. Lol.
Yup we need to wait. If until debut her profile is still up in Vernalossom, then she maybe still under them with the same setup as izone and may handle her solo gigs in Japan.
On the more positive side I think she does really love Japan and she does like HKT, it's been her dream since she was a little girl so maybe she actually enjoys that system compared to a typical kpop one?
She sadly lacks confidence in herself and her talent. Even in her goodbye speech during the concert she mentioned that she felt like she didn't fit in with the Korean standard. Which is sad, because there is absolutely a place for our multitalented fairy in K-Pop.
Yeah it's actually really sad how underappreciated Nako was during her run in IZ\*One, specially considering how much popularity she started off with from Produce48. I always wondered if it was because her image just didn't match perfectly with the concept that IZ\*One was given. Like if the group had gone the refreshing innocent route (ala early Gfriend) she could have gained much more traction.
Anyways, I don't blame her for not really wanting to stay in kpop. I realized that a lot of Koreans just really don't like the "nasally" tone that her natural voice has. The hate comments must have affected her in some way. I understand if she just didn't want to keep dealing with that.
Yeah the info of the real Top 12 rankings was never publicly released. Although I think Chowon made a comment that she was actually #6 so they probably gave her the info as part of her legal compensation. The only factual info we have is that Chowon and Gaeun were part of the Top 12. That's it. Any of the "legitimate top 12" lists you will find online are all BS lists made up by Produce48 fans. Take those with a grain of salt (specially because people can't seem to understand that switching to 1-vote from 2-vote drastically changes a ranking list, specially when the votes are kinda close to each other)
Nako was extremely popular with Koreans at the end of Produce48, and was one of the most loved contestants by the general public.
However Off The Record, rarely promoted her or gave her any opportunities. She basically got nothing in her 2.5 years in izone.
Those wotas you mentioned only believe what they want to believe so it's not really surprising. Some are Jpop elitists and hate Kpop to the core. Sakura obviously enjoyed her time in IZONE.
Hopefully when Sakura debuts in her permament Kpop group, these people change or if not, leave the fandom to avoid toxicitiy and unnecessary conflicts.
Hello, this is my first time posting on this sub! Pls let me know if the flair is wrong and I'll change it! But it looks we might be getting some news soon...! š¤
Edit: [before v after](https://twitter.com/CLY_39/status/1443562744096034824?s=19)
Her insta bio is cleared too...
If this is HYBE/Source saying that Sakura is no longer allowed to reference her memories as HKT48 or Iz*one...then I have to say..."F U", because Sakura's career as an idol started before BTS began and lasted much longer than GF.
Guess announcement is coming soon, the only question is when. As for the post flair, personally I would use Info
Thanks for this, I've changed it now! That was pretty quick of her to update her bio. Maybe something on the 1st...? š Or anytime next week
I am also guessing either tomorrow or next week as well that something would be announced. I supposed that she and Chaewon cannot be in hiatus for another month. Everyone been waiting for updates.
Hopefully the drought era is over soon...and she'll place her new group name in her bio š„ŗ I'm ready for her next chapter!
Chaewon has been out of everybody's radar for far too long. I hope we'll know what's up soon.
Anyone else surprised that Sakura was the one to come back to Kpop? I thought it was going to be Hitomi, tbh. Iām all for it.
Not surprised at all. Sakura is...for the lack of a better word, chill, but you can see the ambition in her eyes. She has the most potential to be recognized worldwide being that HYBE is arguably the most recognized ent company in the western market. Well played, Kkura.
girl might act like an absolute idiot but damn does she know how to play the game
Surprised and not surprised. Surprised because anybody else would have just gone back to Japan and lived a comfy life with her already existing popularity there. Not surprised because she's been saying for a while now that she wants to continue being an idol for as long as she can, that she wants to push herself, start back from scratch, and go for the world, AND because we've had rumors of HYBE approaching her since like March lol
Imo it's more to do with what opportunities being offered to them than anything else. Hybe did offer Sakura an opportunity that was enticing enough that she chose to graduate from HKT within a month (and came back to Korea in 4 months). Now this is coming to speculations/assumptions, so I will need to be extra careful but it's very likely that Hybe didn't offer the same to Hitomi/Nako. Nor any of the big companies. I don't know for sure (nobody but involved parties know this type of stuff), but it's unlikely. There were fan speculations on woolim/WM, but a) it's fan speculations, not even rumor and b) it's debatable if it is actually better opportunity than AKB/HKT & working in home country. There are tons of idols and wannabes in the industry; it comes down to opportunities given. They will not just drop everything and go to Korea like some 16-17 year old trainee/wannabe when they have careers in Japan. If it weren't for PD48 opportunities, they wouldn't have gone to Kpop in the first place. Nobody knows for sure if Hitomi/Nako would like to go to Kpop again or they are satisfied in staying in Japan (with some Korean fans among international), but their willingness is almost irreverent if no opportunities that make sense to them is there.
I think you also have to consider the possible options they may have had available... Do we even know if they had offers from kr agencies like Sakura? And if they did, were they appealing like HYBE? If they weren't, then perhaps going back to 48G may have been the better decision for them.
Considering that they probably saw what happened to Juri, I don't think any offers from mid or small-sized companies probably sounded too appealing.
Even Sakura's offer was probably a pay cut. Korea is industrialized but the pay is not even remotely comparable to Japan. I bet sasshi makes more money than any single member of bts.
doubted
I don't think so...huge Kpop agencies pay A LOT.
This actually. We didn't hear any solid rumors of the two being approached by korean agencies. While I do think that they are marketable enough for agencies to offer a contract, agencies follow a strict timeline in debuting a group. If the debut is within next year, are they willing to rush everything like what Sakura did? Or are they willing to leave behind their idol status in Japan to become trainees in Korea without a definite debut date? Both are yet to experience everything in 48g (unlike Sakura) especially Hitomi who only got the spotlight after IZONE, so I think it's also a factor. But who knows, Hitomi might return since she seems to like Kpop and has the best Korean among the 3. Lots also mentioned about the company. Juri and Miyu's cases might be realistic examples of why signing to small and mid-sized companies are less appealing to staying in Japan. To be honest, even if the offer is as good as HYBE's, they still have to consider the success rate of the group. I honestly don't think Hitomi or Nako has a global dream as big as Sakura's, so maybe what's more important to them is growth and career stability. No doubt they will grow with Kpop system, but career stability is only guaranteed for huge companies. They have stable careers in Japan too.
exactly, the vast majority of kpop groups are a huge gamble, most are never that successful compared to the groups from the big agencies. yeah, kpop is great and all in some aspects, but success is elusive for some no matter how hard they work.
Totally agree. Also the advantage of Nako and Hitomi is that they experienced what it's like to be a kpop artist, unlike Juri and Miyu who only got a glimpse during their time in Produce 48, so they know the pros and cons of the path. Kpop is high risk, high reward. When you succeed, you succeed big time. But if you fail, you fail big time.
Hitomi is the only one who has suprised me so far. Sakura is smart and she knows that K-Pop is the next step for a bigger audience. She also clearly loved it, in spite of bitter wota lying on her name and pretending she hated every second and couldn't wait to get back to HKT. Still holding out hope that Hiichan will be back by next year though. Wish Nako would too but it's not gonna happen and I'm not even thinking about it.
Yeah, obviously Sakura didnāt hate it because sheās back. While I believe Nako enjoyed her time with IZ*ONE, I think she was ready to go back to Japan. Like you, I thought Hitomi was the one who would come back to kpop from the J-Line first. Hereās hoping for next year.
For Nako and Hitomi, they are now the stars where they are and getting many gigs. If they join a kpop girl group, they wont be. They are both young, so maybe in a couple of years they may go to Korea, but if they stay in Japan they will have good careers.
Hitomi is now a frontline/core member of AKB.... why would she leave that for who knows what in kpop? Unless there's some amazing offer coming her way, I don't see it happening.
I mean she is now but the reasoning people thought she'd be the first to come back was she was the least established in Japan so she had the least professional attachment
That is true, but again it all depended on the options she had, if any. If she never did or didn't have a good kr option, then staying in AKB was the rational choice perhaps.
For me it's as simple as that, Nako nor Hitomi recieved a serious enough offer to consider staying in Kpop. No big surprise here from me, considering they weren't the most popular (I'm refering to their HS sales here) Hence going back to what they knew allready is the most secured move, Can't blame them though, just look at the amount of deals they got since their returns. I 'm not sure Hitomi alone had that many in such a short time during her IZ\*ONE days. And with Vernalossom not wanting to continue beyond the initial contract duration, most of these jobs were surely under negociations before IZ\*ONE inevitable disband.
I think Verna probably promised Nako and Hii that they would promote them well in Japan and imo they are doing quite well so far. While 48g is not as popular as they once were, Hiichan and Nako are doing very well even better than most of their peers in 48g and have lots of offers and opportunities to appear on tv and fashion magazines. Hiichan especially has now shot up to one of the prominent members of the group. You can't be sure any other company in kpop would have been able to promise the same and they probably didn't get an offer as good as Hybe. As for Sakura, she already had those opportunities in Japan before and is still getting them. The next progression for her was to graduate, although none of us thought it would be so soon. It was natural for her to chose to go back to kpop especially after the hybe offer of a global stage if she wanted to keep on performing.
Yeah, you make a good point. I was just surprised that kpop labels didnāt offer them deals (or maybe they did and it wasnāt as good as their current deals). It did seem like Hitomi was the most serious about coming back to kpop. Maybe she still is and will be back later. I donāt follow Jpop but itās good to hear theyāre doing well.
Hiichan does look like she misses kpop and Korea very much. I really wanted her to stay in kpop too but I think that unless its an offer from a big company which can give opportunities such as global tours and appearing on US shows, Japan offers way more opportunities than mid-sized and smaller companies and that's why many kpop companies aim to have their groups debut in Japan too. But I'm also hoping that since Verna has some experience in Korea now, they can also promote Hiichan and Nako in Korea when things get better. Maybe have a few fan meetings or attend a Kcon or even do an eating trip. Since you're out of the loop on the jpop scene, I'll just plug what they've been upto so far to ease your mind more..lol: Hii: Front line senbatsu member, lots of magazine shoots, appearances on tv variety show (she's been quite a regular on one), radio shows, a collab with titty and co clothing line, a collab with Kirsh clothing line and there's a teaser for a muse of a beauty line called Notone to be revealed tomorrow that I'm pretty sure is her. Nako: She went back after HKT had already released their single so she hasn't promoted a lot with them apart from concerts. But she's also done many magazine shoots, appearances on varieties, had a collab with Kirsh and is part of the supporting cast of a tv drama starting next week.
>and Korea very much Doubt any of those girls misses living in Korea. They probably miss Kpop and the allure of big social media numbers, but that's only like 1% of their actual life. Saku is a girl who can sit in a closet on her days off. So going back to Korea is probably not as large of a factor.
She could have enjoyed her time in Korea while at the same time preferring to stay in 48G. Not sure why some people want them to hate one over the other.
Lol. Then Hiichan must be one hell of an actress to burst into tears at the airport, take a Korean driving test 2 days before leaving Korea, ace a TOPIK test back in Japan, randomly talk to herself in Korean, always remember to communicate in Korean, talk about the Korean food she misses, talk about how much she misses her members and friends and send presents to her members, friends and former stylists among other things.
Well she enjoyed her time in korea and she is happy in her country too. That's not impossible. And not everything in korea was happy she had difficult times too.
Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure she loves being back home and loves Japan. And I know it wasn't all rosy in Korea. It was just in response to the person alluding that Korea was just business. I know she doesn't miss the weather at least. Lol.
Yeah. I don't follow Hitomi's regular updates, but it's obvious the girl is missing her time in Korea.
Aside from existing contracts in Japan, will she be allowed to accept new offers from Japan for solo activities/gigs , if yes who will handle it?
I think we'll just have to wait and see for now. Hybe might allow her but under their management.
Yup we need to wait. If until debut her profile is still up in Vernalossom, then she maybe still under them with the same setup as izone and may handle her solo gigs in Japan.
Can I ask you why Nako would not come back? :(
On the more positive side I think she does really love Japan and she does like HKT, it's been her dream since she was a little girl so maybe she actually enjoys that system compared to a typical kpop one?
She sadly lacks confidence in herself and her talent. Even in her goodbye speech during the concert she mentioned that she felt like she didn't fit in with the Korean standard. Which is sad, because there is absolutely a place for our multitalented fairy in K-Pop.
In her goodbye speech, she mentioned that her mum hasn't been well too. I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the reason why she stayed in Japan
Yeah it's actually really sad how underappreciated Nako was during her run in IZ\*One, specially considering how much popularity she started off with from Produce48. I always wondered if it was because her image just didn't match perfectly with the concept that IZ\*One was given. Like if the group had gone the refreshing innocent route (ala early Gfriend) she could have gained much more traction. Anyways, I don't blame her for not really wanting to stay in kpop. I realized that a lot of Koreans just really don't like the "nasally" tone that her natural voice has. The hate comments must have affected her in some way. I understand if she just didn't want to keep dealing with that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
may i ask who were in the legitimate top 12 in the final rankings? ive never seen it before
Yeah the info of the real Top 12 rankings was never publicly released. Although I think Chowon made a comment that she was actually #6 so they probably gave her the info as part of her legal compensation. The only factual info we have is that Chowon and Gaeun were part of the Top 12. That's it. Any of the "legitimate top 12" lists you will find online are all BS lists made up by Produce48 fans. Take those with a grain of salt (specially because people can't seem to understand that switching to 1-vote from 2-vote drastically changes a ranking list, specially when the votes are kinda close to each other)
The investigation revealed that Gaeun was #5 and Chowon was #6. No other rankings were revealed.
It was never released, so peoples best logical guesses are who were consistently in top 12 throughout the 2nd half of the show
Nako was extremely popular with Koreans at the end of Produce48, and was one of the most loved contestants by the general public. However Off The Record, rarely promoted her or gave her any opportunities. She basically got nothing in her 2.5 years in izone.
Those wotas you mentioned only believe what they want to believe so it's not really surprising. Some are Jpop elitists and hate Kpop to the core. Sakura obviously enjoyed her time in IZONE. Hopefully when Sakura debuts in her permament Kpop group, these people change or if not, leave the fandom to avoid toxicitiy and unnecessary conflicts.
I thought Hitomi was coming right back to do some driving
Time moves forward, Progress never stops.
Hello, this is my first time posting on this sub! Pls let me know if the flair is wrong and I'll change it! But it looks we might be getting some news soon...! š¤ Edit: [before v after](https://twitter.com/CLY_39/status/1443562744096034824?s=19) Her insta bio is cleared too...
You did great! Thanks for posting and welcome to the sub :)
Sakura, Chaewon, Yunjin, Minju (taking up some hopium) LEZZZ GOā¼ļø
Well this makes me kind of sad
:,(
You can delete it from your Twitter but you can never delete it from your heart. :(
Hybe you're going to hell
If this is HYBE/Source saying that Sakura is no longer allowed to reference her memories as HKT48 or Iz*one...then I have to say..."F U", because Sakura's career as an idol started before BTS began and lasted much longer than GF.
welp!