Hottest K-Pop Girl Group – NewJeans’ Controversial Japan Debut
NewJeans' Japan debut is becoming a hot topic on community sites
On June 21st, NewJeans officially released the double single “Supernatural,” marking their debut in Japan. Prior to this, NewJeans had released the b-side MV “Right Now.” Both songs are aimed directly at the Japanese market. After releasing the music, the five girls will hold their first fan meeting at Tokyo Dome. The top K-pop girl group’s strategy of expanding into Japan has fans eagerly anticipating their success.
“Supernatural” showcases NewJeans’ strength in street-style imagery and the Y2K vibe they pursue. In this Japanese debut, Min Hee Jin allows the five girls to impress with a youthful, dynamic image without constructing a complex storyline for the product.
Musically, the title single “Supernatural” features a New Jack Swing style, with distinctive percussion recreating a retro atmosphere for the song. The arrangement begins with a melody reminiscent of “Attention,” the first song that brought NewJeans to the public.
Like a loop, NewJeans returns after two years, having achieved numerous record-breaking feats, reaching a new milestone in their career with their debut in Japan. “Supernatural” aims at the old Japanese pop music material, a suitable direction for the five girls to sketch a new journey there.
Despite the careful investment in both music and imagery, NewJeans’ Japanese debut still stirs controversy. After “Supernatural” aired, music fans quickly scrutinized the song’s lyrics. As a product aimed directly at the Japanese market, “Supernatural” is written in a mix of three languages: English, Korean, and Japanese. Notably, English lyrics dominate, occupying 65% of the song. There are 10 Korean lines and 6 Japanese lines.
This is a puzzling move by NewJeans’ management company. Typically, when K-pop artists promote in Japan, they release songs in Japanese. For example, their senior group SEVENTEEN expanded their influence in Japan through a series of Japanese albums. They either released new songs or collections of previously released Korean songs, translated into Japanese and re-recorded.
Meanwhile, “Supernatural” mixes three languages, with English taking the largest part. The b-side “Right Now” is also built on this formula. Many believe that ADOR, while guiding NewJeans’ “Japan debut,” still wants to create a song that Korean audiences find appealing. The English part is intended to boost global trends and facilitate international media scoring.
However, this is a risky approach, likely to backfire if the focus is not concentrated on a single key market. Moreover, the music quality is also criticized for lacking breakthroughs and being unimpressive.
After more than half a day of airing, NewJeans has achieved certain accomplishments. On Line Music, Japan’s largest streaming platform, “Supernatural” currently ranks #7 in the top 100 (as of 4 PM Vietnam time). The b-side MV “Right Now” holds the #1 position among trending videos on Line Music.
On domestic charts, “Supernatural” debuted at #17 on Genie and #34 on MelOn, which are quite stable rankings for a song aimed at the Japanese market. However, NewJeans’ popularity in this comeback has significantly decreased. Compared to 2023, NewJeans no longer creates a sense of overwhelming surprise with each new release.
