NCT WISH is being called "flop" despite being a newly-debuted rookie group, leading fans to defend the fifth-gen act.
Here's what happened.
NCT WISH Deemed 'Flop', NCTzens Defend Group from Harsh Remarks
On February 29, an online thread titled, "So NCT WISH flopped," was flocked on to by Korean netizens.
In the post, the author enumerated several acts such as Japanese group SKE48, along with ATEEZ and SM Entertainment's newest boy group NCT WISH, who debuted on February 21.
OP then detailed each of the group's first-day sales performance, but highly emphasized NCT WISH's 33,003 sales for "Wish" and compared it to SKE48's 259,313 for 'Ai no Hologram," and ATEEZ's 178,135 for "NOT OKAY."
They only sold 30K copies of their debut single. ATEEZ sold 170K copies on the same day. They say that the WISH had the lowest first week of sale of all male idols there."
The comments section was divided, as some hurled negative comments towards NCT WISH. Other netizens even mocked NCTzens for hyping up NCT WISH for their debut.
"The WISH fans were saying how they were gonna be so popular once they debut and were f**king making a fuss so what are they gonna do about this humiliation?"
"Is that the best they can do with the visuals? I don't have any interest in them, and I don't want to know more about them either."
"SM seriously is a has-been now. They've even been pushed aside by mid-sized Korean companies."
However, most of the fans were enraged with the remarks, saying how early it was for netizens to call the group a "flop" by just basing off on one album sales performance and geographic reach.
"Seeing how even WISH gets haters, it proves that SM is still going strong."
"They just debuted so how can you say that they already failed? It's not like idols are just idols for a day so just wait and see. And they didn't even start selling in Korea yet."
International fans stood up to defend the group, pointing out the exaggerated reactions towards the current norm involving excessive first-day sales. They even mentioned how unfair it was to compare NCT WISH to ATEEZ, an established boy group with a solid core fanbase.
"Give them some time. Not everyone needs to sell 100,000 on their debut first week."
"30k for a debut single is really good though? Also, ATEEZ is an established boy group with a huge fandom, obviously, they're not gonna come close."
"They literally debuted. It is crazy to write them off so fast. Also, a group from a top company like SM will never truly flop in the ways that people want."
"30,000 for a first day sales can't be a flop IMO."
"They just debuted. Girl be calm."
"You can't compare a first release to an established group though?"
"That's just for Japan. They will still release in Korea, I think in a week. Let's see what the numbers would look like then."
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