On Our Own: Super Junior and ELF

I don’t know if you paid attention but I’ve been mentioning a certain article for like a week already. It was written by a Korean ELF and I got it from SJ-Market. Most of it, I couldn’t understand. But… what I understood is enough to make me comprehend that there’s something in it – something that is so painful, something that is so frustrating, something that calls us to action.

Honestly, I am not yet through with the translation. There are still missing links. But you know what the gist is? SM ENTERTAINMENT and SUPER JUNIOR.

I don’t want to believe whatever my assumptions are, but it’s just too disturbing that I cannot keep it to myself alone. It’s about the 4jib promotions. It’s about the release. It’s about the promotion. It’s about the struggle. It’s about the fight.

Just let me summarize it.

The promotion of the 4th album is very much different from how the 3rd album was released. If I’m not mistaken, the biggest promotion allotted for Miinah was the voice messages. And then, it was supported by the personal announcements during the Super Show 2.

When Miinah was released, it was during the World Cup season. It was very crucial. In the article, it was stated that most artists wouldn’t release albums during this season because there is a huge possibility that it would not do well, or worse, it would flop. But SM released the 4jib.

Yet, Super Junior and ELF withstood the negative possibility. We all emerged victorious when the boys won a triple crown for Bonamana. The album sales reached 250,000 in few weeks. How awesome could that get, right?

But of course, that’s not enough. It’s just the initial period and we were expected to be stronger. Then, Wonder Girls’ albums were released. It challenged Miinah and that’s when the tough times started.

You guys remember the Embarassing game, right? That wasn’t done purely for entertainment. It was done to promote Miinah. Hyukjae and Heenim and Jungsoo (in the airport) had to dance Bonamana in front of so many people to promote the album.

Then, you must have heard Heenim’s words saying he doesn’t need gifts. All he wants is for their album sales to shoot to half a million and he will be happy.See? He’s insisting on the album sales.

Then Korean ELF asked International ELF for help on Soribada. Bonamana has to win the charts again, but it didn’t even compete for #1. It was heartbreaking. Considering that it has only been weeks and SJ was already out of the Top 10. As far as I know, this hasn’t happened yet. With the 4jib, it’s the first time.

No Other was released without any notice. No promotions, even. We were caught by surprise when the boys sang the song on Music Bank for the first time.

As I am so happy that SJ is finally back to how they really are, it was later when I started to question SM for not even teasing the ELF. However, I shoved it off from my mind since this might be the same thing which happened with Neorago.

I thought No Other’s gonna do very well. But it just did for a few days. When Taeyang did a comeback, No Other wasn’t able to win even just once against Solar.

Then the promotion ended, just like that. To think that it has only been a few weeks since they did.

You see, there was no enough time for promotion and I don’t think SM is doing anything about it. As said in the article, the boys went to variety shows but most of the time, it is the Super Show which were promoted, not the album itself. As for Dream Team, there is an ample time for Hyukjae to promote Miinah.

Good thing, the members participated there. And I must say that THAT was the biggest promotion they ever did for the 4jib. (At least, the biggest that I know of)

The non-stop promotion comes from the 3 radio programs which are hosted by EunTeuk (Sukira), Heenim (YS) and Shindong (SSTP). Since the four are DJs, they can speak whatever they want; and so they promote the album. I personally believe that joining Twitter is one form of promotion too. (It’s just that they happened to enjoy the world of it.^^)

The article showed a picture of Minnie taking a picture update for a radio station, while holding the 4jib. Heenim did that too. And Jungsoo and Eunteuk were even dancing the choreography. Also, tweets of Heenim and Wookie was shown.

Both implies that though the boys want to promote more, they can’t. They wouldn’t be allowed by the company to attend shootings, appear on variety programs, etc. Yes, their market is very limited. And I tell you, PROMOTION INDEED AFFECTS.

After the promotion, SM announced that the boys will be having three weeks to rest because in three weeks, Super Show 3 will commence in Seoul. I wonder who the hell did SM fool? Three weeks to rest, because there’s three weeks left before the concert. Geez. You couldn’t expect the boys to come to a concert unprepared. That three weeks will be spent in practices and rehearsals, not REST.

Okay, so what you have just read is the reality in view of a Korean ELF, though I have added some of my OWN opinions. It’s quite alarming, right? But it is happening. And then this comes the realization of our responsibility: PROTECT SUPER JUNIOR.

The truth is I used to have no idea how to do that. I want to protect the boys and their dreams with all my life, because they have brought color back to my life. I owe them that. I owe them whatever and whoever I am right now. I won’t explain how because as an ELF, I know you feel the same.

But when I got the article, I realized that the least I can do is to promote them. Yes. Definitely. I have to do that. I have to make Super Junior known. Because it is my responsibility. Because it’s the only way I can protect Super Junior.

I don’t know what’s with SM Entertainment, or maybe I’m just overlooking things. But whatever is the truth, it does not change the fact that we have to help Super Junior in becoming number one again.