It can be pretty much guaranteed that nearly all official K-Pop images are edited to some degree. Some are much more obvious than others, but whether it’s simple lighting and coloring fixes or changing an idol’s actual appearance, these days there are very few pictures released of K-Pop idols by their companies that give a realistic portrayal of what they look like.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that idols aren’t gorgeous even with natural skin texture and other imperfections, because many of them are already stunning even without editing! That can make cases of heavy photoshopping even more frustrating and seemingly pointless, and that’s just the case for some recently shared teaser images for a popular third generation girl group idol.
The promotions for Red Velvet‘s upcoming album, Cosmic, have already been frustrating for many fans. Not only did the album only get announced after Joy voiced her discouragement about their lack of promotions to fans, but the short promotional period and the apparent effort being put into this comeback (which will take place soon before the group’s ten-year debut anniversary) has been upsetting to a lot of people.
Red Velvet ‘Cosmic’ – Mysterious Hotel : Red Velvet
💫 2024.06.24 6PM KST
💿 Pre-Save & Pre-Addhttps://t.co/rBZYNtQPd7 #레드벨벳 #RedVelvet#코스믹 #Cosmic#RedVelvet_Cosmic pic.twitter.com/eZHDlYKhxC
— Red Velvet (@RVsmtown) June 12, 2024
The album is set to come out in just a week on June 24, and today SM Entertainment released some much-needed new teaser images for the comeback. And while the girls all looked stunning, fans had a hard time recognizing one of them.
Red Velvet ‘Cosmic’ Midnight sun – When the stars align : IRENE
💫 2024.06.24 6PM KST
💿 Pre-Save & Add & Orderhttps://t.co/rBZYNtQPd7#레드벨벳 #RedVelvet#아이린 #IRENE#코스믹 #Cosmic#RedVelvet_Cosmic pic.twitter.com/EJBUUtRvr5
— Red Velvet (@RVsmtown) June 17, 2024
Red Velvet ‘Cosmic’ Midnight sun – When the stars align : SEULGI
💫 2024.06.24 6PM KST
💿 Pre-Save & Add & Orderhttps://t.co/rBZYNtQPd7#레드벨벳 #RedVelvet#슬기 #SEULGI#코스믹 #Cosmic#RedVelvet_Cosmic pic.twitter.com/qPOhVei2y8
— Red Velvet (@RVsmtown) June 17, 2024
Some had to do a double-take to recognize Joy in her teaser images.
Between the hairstyle and heavy makeup that isn’t often used on Joy as well as what fans think is very aggressive editing on the pictures, fans think she resembles other idols more than herself in these teasers.
Of course, she still looks stunning, but fans are disappointed in the pictures because, as many see it, they aren’t actually pictures of Joy because of how edited they are.
Here’s how people are reacting to the Cosmic teaser images of Joy.
Were you able to recognize her, or were you just as confused?
Source: The Qoo and Pann Choa
