Various fans and netizens can’t help but notice the uncanny similarities between the concepts of NewJeans and Red Velvet.
NewJeans and Red Velvet: Numerous similarities?
After announcing her departure from SM in 2019, Min Hee Jin, a former creative director of SM Entertainment, joined HYBE and became the head of the subsidiary company ADOR. Under her guidance, “super rookie” girl group NewJeans made their debut in 2022, and is now becoming one of the leading fourth-generation Kpop artists.
Along with their success, however, NewJeans also faced a fair share of controversies. In particular, after the release of their recent tracks “New Jeans” and “Super Shy”, continuous debate arose among international fans, as some pointed out familiar elements between NewJeans and Red Velvet.
Initially, both girl groups don’t seem to resemble each other, sans the fact that they both have 5 members with evenly balanced visual appeals, and Min Hee Jin’s hand in their creative visions. Red Velvet have successfully taken on diverse and challenging concepts, while NewJeans made waves upon their debut with their pure and fresh looks, contributing to the Y2K trend in Korea.
In fact, through songs like “Attention”, “Hype Boy”, “OMG”, and “Ditto”, NewJeans managed to establish a nostalgic and distinct image of their own.
However, everything changed after the release of NewJeans’ “Super Shy”. Korean social media became filled with discussions about “NewJeans being Min Hee Jin’s attempt at replicating Red Velvet”, with various elements being brought up for comparison.
For instance, a promotional image for “Super Shy” is said to have similar composition, positions, and poses to one from Red Velvet’s “Peek-a-Boo” era from 2017.
This controversy intensified when NewJeans released images of their collaboration with “The Powerpuff Girls”, which confirmed each member’s “representative color”. In particular, NewJeans’ “Powerpuff Girls” equivalents don the color of pink, yellow, purple, blue, and green – which is the exact same colors used for Red Velvet members. Adding to this, ADOR used 5 heart emojis in posts related to “Super Shy”, and these are the exact 5 that SM usually uses to represent Red Velvet members. As a result, fans of Red Velvet have been feeling upset.
Regarding this, fans pointed out that there are a plethora of colors that could have been used for NewJeans. It is unlikely that ADOR just coincidentally uses the same 5 colors for another 5-member group, especially when Min Hee Jin also participated in the creation of Red Velvet, they contended.
As a result, many netizens have been calling NewJeans the “next generation” of Red Velvet and f(x), the two girl groups that had their image and concepts closely associated with Min Hee Jin’s creative work at SM.
NewJeans’ similarities with Red Velvet: Is it Min Hee Jin’s “obsession” or mere coincidence?
For hardcore fans of SM’, it is not difficult to recognize the consistency in projects where Min Hee Jin has been involved. Before NewJeans on her own, Min Hee Jin was considered an “idea bank” within SM, serving as a creative director for 11 years, and contributing to the visual aspects of groups such as SNSD, f(x), SHINee, Red Velvet, and EXO.
Min Hee Jin’s concepts vary and are tailored to each project’s direction, but they always have a consistent theme that viewers can recognize. In particular, Min Hee Jin adheres to certain principles of image layout, storyline expressed through image compositions, special symbols, character expressions, color, and meticulously invested backgrounds. Her works almost always share a “fantastic feel” with a “film-camera” filter that feels magical yet eerie.
When it comes to Min Hee Jin, it is impossible not to mention f(x)’s “Rum Pum Pum Pum”, where the girl group transformed into high school girls. In fact, NewJeans’ “Ditto” bears the same atmosphere, though probably with creative liberties that Min Hee Jin didn’t have at SM.
All in all, many believe that the recently detected similarities between Red Velvet and NewJeans are not mere coincidences, but rather Min Hee Jin’s stubborn “obsession”.
Below are some comments from Korean netizens on the forum Nate Pann:
- Now NewJeans is even using the same symbolic colors as Red Velvet… Looking at NewJeans, it seems like this is a group created for Min Hee Jin to do what she wanted to do with Red Velvet and f(x) at SM but couldn’t.
- It is not copying, it is just shared creative visions
- While there are some similar vibes, and Min Hee Jin is noticeably obsessed with some concepts.. The different members make Red Velvet and NewJeans completely distinct from each other
- Min Hee Jin is consistent. All her projects have a similar vibe.
- As long as it’s Min Hee Jin, you can expect: a filter that resemble film camera, a dreamlike atmosphere, and natural palettes
Source: k14, Pann
