Broken Base and Alternative Character Interpretations For The Mina "Bullying" Scandal
- Mina and her bullying allegations caused a huge broken base - not only in the fandom, but in a large portion of both Korean and international netizens. One side 100% believes Mina's stories and consider Jimin and Seolhyun to be the scum of the earth, while the second one points out that FNC and the other members have never actually released the full version of their side of the storynote , that Mina's stories often change and contradict themselves and she has a bad habit of releasing stories that cast a negative light on the other members whenever they're about to have any sort of solo success. Multiple other idols have unfollowed her on social media, a backup performer in "Heart Attack" spoke about
how Mina was rude and had a "poor attitude" during the filming of "Heart Attack" and there are even conspiracy theories that her outbursts are carefully timed around her posting photoshoots or ads for the products she sellsnote , as her followers increased to over a million after she made the initial allegations. Public opinion in 2020 was almost universally in Mina's favor, but as time went on and Mina's claims began to draw more criticismnote and skepticism, things began to shift away from her, with the following three events being the apex:- The first event was Mina publicly shaming a younger nurse for getting frustrated with her after multiple instances where she (Mina) would repeatedly call to change the times of her doctor's appointments. Mina also claimed the nurse did not use honorifics/formal language when speaking to her, and demanded she be fired. When a doctor told Mina that this was not something that could be easily done - what with the global pandemic and all - Mina said "I don't care, that's your problem, not mine - just get rid of her." When this post did not receive the reception she thought it would, Mina uploaded a photo of what appeared to be herself after self-harming, and wrote "You said this is to gain sympathy. Well then, why don’t you give me some?" Fans, however, traced this photo back to a shock/gore site and after being called out for faking the image and attempting to manipulate the public, Mina deleted the photo.
- The second incident was when Mina suddenly claimed that Jimin had punched her in the chest on multiple occasions during their pre-debut daysnote and caused Mina to get cervical cancer due to the stress of trying to please her. Netizens promptly called her out on this, not only because Mina had initially claimed that she had cervical dysplasia, but also that while some studies have shown that while stress can inhibit a woman's immune response to cervical dysplasia, thus giving it more chance to develop into cancer, this would only be possible if the dysplasia was caused by HPV - a sexually transmitted diseasenote . Mina's reply was to retort that she was "not that kind of girl" before proceeding to bring up her accusations about Jimin's sex life againnote , causing netizens to attack her for "slutshaming" Jimin.
- The third and most explosive event came after Mina posted a (possibly) topless photo of herself and a man (Yoo) to Instagram, and claimed he was her boyfriend. Shortly afterwards, she was accused of cheating/stealing the man from another woman (A), who had found out about the relationship through Mina's posting the photo. Mina stridently denied every aspect of this, writing "This is really hard for me too. Put yourself in my shoes and just think about it." She went on to claim she had contacted A and everything was finenote then changed her story to accuse A's father of being a gangster and sending her death threatsnote . Soon afterwards, A released a statement and screenshots confirming the initial factsnote as well as proving her father was not a gangster and had not threatened Yoo or Mina in any way. She also revealed that Mina had first pretended not to know hernote before demanding she "get [her upset friends] under control" because she didn't like how they were speaking to hernote , saying "Why would I lie? I'm a celebrity. I don't know exactly what's going on but maybe the problem is with you". Mina then wrote a post claiming she had repeatedly asked Yoo if A was okay with them talking as well as inviting the couple to come and live with hernote and claiming she had simply been trying to set up a delivery of the artwork Yoo had created for hernote . Eventually Mina admitted to being at fault and announced she had broken up with Yoo.note
- Following Mina's making another suicide attempt, Yoo posted his side of the story, where he revealednote that not only had Mina forced him to take the blame for the entirety of the incidentnote , she refused to believe she was anything other than a victim, she had known all along he was in a relationship, she had lied about him taking money and personal items from her, she had threatened to self-harm/commit suicide if he did not contact her, and that her mother had sent him multiple graphic photos of Mina's room after she had attempted suicide. Mina claimed Yoo was lying, and that her mother had only sent him one photo, so Yoo promptly uploaded a photo proving that he had received nineteen photos and one video, at which point Mina deleted her post.
- Following Mina's making another suicide attempt, Yoo posted his side of the story
- Broken Base: Everything about them.
- You're either a fan of AOA8, just AOA Black or just AOA7 the dance unit.
- You're a fan of their first few releases and hate Confused era onwards (aka their "sexy" concepts) or you love their sexy concepts and never want them to go back to their old concepts and/or band concept. The songs "Confused" onwards have also gained rather conflicting opinions, that the song is either catchy or dull and lacks an individual sound or good dance.
- Jimin's voice is either charismatic and awesome or too squeaky and awful for listeners. In particular there's:
- Her appearance for the rap show Unpretty Rapstar where the finales had the six finalists, including Jimin, tackle the topic of writing lyrics that represented "the real me". Most of the girls stood on stage and sung songs about things that were very personal and about what they considered to be the real them; Jimin however wrote a very boastful, cuss-filled, sexualized rap about "being the top madam" and "bitch you a fucking puss puss", with the stage performance filled with choreography, backup dancers, and half the song sung by Iron, another rapper who had just debuted. Fans and non-fans either loved the song and agreed that maybe the real Jimin was an idol and she shouldn't have tried to fight it all along but maybe embraced it or they just found it completely ridiculous and a basic mockery of the whole competition.
- Her collaboration with labelmate J.don of N.flying for their rap song "God". Fans either think it's badass and shows off her rapping perfectly or they think she sounds dreadful and it's a terrible song that's riding off the Puss hype.
- Fans either kiss Brave Brothers' ass or dread his role in their music.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Mina. Though FNC initially didn't put much focus on her compared to the other members, she received a lot of attention for being the bassist and her good looks, and she soon got more attention for her personality and acting skills. FNC thus began pushing her more for dramas and gave her more opportunities, but she still wasn't as prominent as other members.
- Youkyung at least started off as one and even had the most praise/fans when her old band Sponge Band debuted. She's a very skilled drummer, charismatic when on stage and adorkable in her own right, which caught the attention of many at debut and has won her many fans and their respect; but she is the least exposed due to FNC's preference for the dance unit (she's even only a "half-angel" just because she's not a dancer) and has been made inactive ever since "Confused" era kicked in - she doesn't appear in any of their endorsements, and wasn't even included in the group's first official photobook! She was thought to be forever stuck in FNC's dungeon, but it was announced in January 2016 that AOA Black would be making a comeback that year... which promptly fell apart, and Youkyung announced her departure in October of that year.
- AOA Black, who caught the most attention at debut. People liked that they made the group unique and were one of the few kpop girl bands at all, let alone with decent lives. Yet they were neglected even before being Put on the Bus, such as few 100% live performances, a lot less performances and appearances than the dance unit, and no band practice videos (whereas the dance unit has over 10 just for "Confused", "Miniskirt," Short Hair" and "Like A Cat"). They had a moment to shine in the band-only promotion "Moya" but it was done poorly. FNC showed no interest in bringing them back despite them having the public interest and fan support needed to at least promote them alongside the dance-unit again until 2016 when plans for a comeback were announced. These never materialized, and now with Choa, Mina, Jimin and Youkyung having left the group, it can be safely concluded that AOA Black will never happen again.
- Fandom Rivalry:
- With Girls' Generation's SONEs, starting with AOA's debut but up to eleven after the dance unit performed rather lackluster covers of "Mr.Mr." and "Genie". Some of their fans unfortunately bring it upon themselves with their "Next SNSD!" or "AOA is so much BETTER than SNSD!" comments, but it doesn't excuse some SONEs for hating on them just because they're not SNSD and slutshaming them.
- A Pink's Pink Pandas, because they're both rising groups that debuted about a year apart, have opposing concepts... and that's about it. Expect lots of slut-shaming from Pandas and lots of "You're too cutesy and boring!" from Elvis. In particular, Seolhyun and Naeun, who look alike and are constantly compared, receive a lot of hate from the opposing fandoms. Ironically, Mina and Eunji knew each other from middle school and are on good terms.
- Friendly Fandoms:
- Quite a few who first got into them are/were already fans of at least one other FNC artist, whether it be CN Blue, FT Island or formerly Juniel. It's common to find an FNC stan who likes or respects all artists including AOA.
- With Girl's Day's Daisies, as both are rising groups that hit it big around the same time after changing to sexy concepts. Some fans might hate on each other due to the competition and similarities but most others otherwise like and support the other group.
- Heartwarming Moments:
- The few times all 8 members are together for activities◊. It became much more rare "Confused" era onwards seeing how AOA has been made to promote their music without Youkyung, and it makes their debut days as 8 sweeter and their post-Confused days together◊ all the more meaningful.
- Former labelmate Juniel's friendship with the girls. In particular, childhood friend Choa finally got accepted in FNC after over 20 failed auditions thanks to her; and her and Jimin's guitars are sisters called "Panini" and "Banana" respectively and Juniel wrote "Dream and Hope" to encourage Jimin.
- When other members (sadly without Youkyung nor Seolhyun) threw Choa a surprise birthday on Cheongdam-dong 111 and made her very happy.
- Their wins on music show are sweet to watch for their happiness and gratitude despite any missing members.
- One of the Gayo Daejuns in 2014 finally had another public performance from AOA Black thus Youkyung too. The absolute joy on Youkyung's face while she's drumming is too much for words.
- Many moments from their Open Up! AOA series where the members relax and spend time with each other.
- Episode 3 has members reading rather touching letters written to each other at the end. In particular is Choa's letter to Mina where she acknowledges that she had a rough time (a likely reference to her father's death) yet was able to endure it and smiled a lot which she thought was amazing. She ends it with, "For the rest of 2015, you're going to be happy and everything will work out! Mina, I love you."
- In Episodes 5-6 all 8 members have a rare full group gathering together at Choa and Youkyung's surprise joint birthday party - everyone simply goofs off and relaxes while having some bonding time. There's also the parts that show how much thought members put into their gifts for the birthday pair.
- Jimin's tribute to Youkyung, full stop.
- Some of the netizen reactions to Youkyung's departure count as well: "It's a pity AOA didn't make it as a band version. They were such a unique girl group in that regard... it would've been good to have a mix of releases", "I wanted to see AOA Black but all this wait for nothing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ how many lives are FNC ruining? Juniel, Yookyung..."
- Some of the netizen reactions to Youkyung's departure count as well:
- The few times all 8 members are together for activities
- Hilarious in Hindsight: It was discovered at debut that Youkyung's a former member of the disbanded Sponge Band and rapped in their song "Can't Hear You". At the start of 2015, Jimin joined the rap show Unpretty Rapstar and befriended Kisum, who many fans thought looked very much like Youkyung.
- Hollywood Homely: Seolhyun's character on My Daughter Sooyoung used to look very different from her current pretty look - she apparently weighed 10 more kilos back then and she wore braces, large glasses, rather atrociously curled hair and unfashionable clothes that hid her figure. This was what made her rejected by her crush. Seolhyun is however AOA's official face and 2nd visual who's greatly admired for her looks.
- Jerkass Woobie: Mina. While nobody can deny that she has gone through some form of trauma, her taking it out on Jimin due to perceived slights and making her life hell for a full year cements her as this.
- Les Yay:
- Choa pays very close attention to Seolhyun gyrating and posing to dodge the lasers in "Like A Cat".
- Seolhyun and Hyejeong once◊ did a wedding photoshoot together. Common reaction? "Aw, look at their wedding day photos."
- Mis-blamed: Well...
- Many blame AOA Black for being the sole reason the group first struggled, which is only partly true. It was AOA having the simultaneous band/dance units at all that caused issues - the band wasn't taken seriously because they're a "half-band" while the dance unit were seen as generic compared to the band (with AOA White members deemed talentless just because they're not in the band). Majority actually praised AOA Black more than the dance unit at debut - however FNC put very little effort into them, including their own single "Moya" even after it reached No. 1 on charts, and brought the failure upon themselves for not trying to sell the hybrid concept.
- Youkyung gets accused of being lazy and useless just because she's not in the dance unit and that it's "her fault she's inactive". The times she gets to appear is completely within FNC's control - and of course they choose to not even promote AOA8 let alone AOA Black. It's also part of the deal that, like the dance-only members, Youkyung only promotes as a band member in AOA's half-band/dance concept (making her equally as "useless" as the dance-only members), as the original premise was that band and dance promotions would be equal and it was expected the whole group would do well like FTI and CNB. Cue 2014, where FNC ditched the band long-term and ruined their original premise hence changed Youkyung's activity within the group... which led to her departure.
- Many consider AOA White members useless purely because they're not band members. In reality, Chanmi and Hyejeong were recruited for their dancing/visuals and not trained to play any instruments, and Seolhyun was AOA Black's original keyboardist predebut before being replaced by Yuna.
- Narm:
- Their angel concept at debut, complete with "angel names" and a backstory of how 7 Angels in heaven were fascinated with music on earth and another "half-angel" was the keykeeper and helped open the gate to earth so they could all visit. The Elvis MV Teasers and MV itself didn't make it better, especially with the really tacky-looking wings that were edited in which made the girls look more silly than cool.
- The characters' exaggeration expressions in the "Moya" and "Short Hair" MVs. The MVs try to portray them being genuinely frustrated with their problems and getting the audience to sympathise with them, but the girls end up looking more comical than anything else.
- The dance for "Like A Cat", where most of the moves are meant to have a feline touch - many people find the choreography to be more childish than sensual because of it though, and the simple "tail/butt wave" at the "la la la" is incredibly anticlimactic.
- Signature Song:
- Miniskirt for the dance unit, being their most well-known and successful song.
- For AOA Black, the whole group song "Get Out", strangely. While it's actually "Moya" that should be this as it's their solo title track, they perform "Get Out" more often as a band - it not only seems to be the AOA Black song more known and preferred by everyone, but the general consensus is that the song suits the band more than the dance unit.
- Suspiciously Similar Song:
- When "Confused" was released, many comparisons were made to Sistar's "Alone" due to the similar retro sound and melodies. It didn't help the dances are also similar.
- Many people noticed straight away when soloist Sunmi's "Full Moon" was released that it sounds very similar to AOA's dance unit's "Under The Street Lights". Then again, both songs were produced by Brave Brothers, who is notorious for recycling his songs.
- Tear Jerker:
- AOA's initial lack of success was highlighted in the reality show Cheongdam-dong 111 where it was revealed they made no profit because the money earned didn't exceed the money invested that year. Made worse when Jimin did earn some money because she helped write the raps, and she was so excited she even promised her members pizza. When she actually got her pay, she only made an equivalent of $1. The girls would not get their income until much later.
- Youkyung's role as a "half-angel" means FNC makes her look less important than she really is and also less part of the group. Thanks to FNC she's been inactive and seen/acknowledged very few times since "Moya" just because she doesn't dance (that includes being absent from whole group activities eg. 1st photobook and the Dec. 2014 family FNC Kingdom concert), to the point that she's glossed over on official shows:"[...] Sometimes she’s not introduced with the other members when they play in some music shows. [...] Heck, I watched a couple of episodes of Cheongdamdong 111 and she’s not in it yet and when they went to AOA’s dorm, it said “the seven members live with two managers” which means she’s not with them even in the dorm. Even the show’s opening that introduces all the artists under the company only introduced AOA as seven members. This is ridiculous, it’s like she doesn’t exist. They should’ve at least let her be part of the dance group or be in a band that is only a band because her situation now is like as if she only ‘features’ in their songs and is not really a member. You can’t sit there assuming she’s fine with it because that’s impossible, she’s probably more upset than us fans."
- And then she left the group, to which the reaction of most netizens was "Who? There was a member named Youkyung?"
- And then she left the group, to which the reaction of most netizens
- AOA Black's inactivity. Band activities ceased following the release of "Moya", and while they were thought to be returning in 2016, it turned out to be yet another dance unit comeback instead.
- The fact that the band unit has most likely been officially dissolved following Choa, Mina, Jimin and Youkyung's departures.
- Jimin being driven to tears when first appearing on Unpretty Rapstar due to the other girls' acting cold and looking down on her for being an idol hence "not a true rapper".
- The band song "Without You" is a rather depressing break-up song , especially when performed live because of Choa's emotional singing.
- Choa's departure, and the backlash she's faced over it.
- Chanmi's depression and the time she ran away from the company and her mother had to go and track her down while being concerned she would harm herself.
- Mina's bullying allegations in 2020, leading up to her posting photos of herself apparently having self-harmed to the point of needing medical attention, and attempting suicide twice in one week.
- The reveal in 2021 that Mina's claims were at the very least greatly exaggerated is this for the other members, who pretty much all (excepting ChoA and Youkyung) received vicious comments and messages over social media telling them they're horrible and even being encouraged to commit suicide.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: There's been much uproar towards AOA Black (and hence Youkyung) being ditched altogether in favour of promoting just the dance unit, and/or the sudden change to sexy concepts and more generic music.
- Tough Act to Follow: "Short Hair", while not a financial failure, wasn't as well-received as the successful "Miniskirt" and was heavily criticised for being a dull carbon copy of said song.
- WTH, Costuming Department?:
- Majority of the (mismatching) outfits used in a group photo◊ promoting their Taiwan release and also used for the dance-unit's "Short Hair" jacket. Yes, Yuna is wearing a t-shirt with a bra on it.
- The dance unit's all leather performance outfit at the 2014 MAMAs◊ had to cater to both the bad-ass sexiness of "Like A Cat" and more glamorous sensuality of "Miniskirt". The end result was... neither.
- The all leather outfits were well received by a lot of fans, however.
- Majority of the (mismatching) outfits used in a group photo
