Starting back in December of last year, Happy Face Entertainment made it known that their second generation K-pop girl group Minx would re-debut as Dreamcatcher. It would include two new members and a brand new concept, one considered to be darker and creepier than what most K-pop girl groups usually do. We did not know exactly how different Dreamcatcher would be until they released they teased us with snippets of their music video for “Chase Me.” K-pop fans realized what we would get from Dreamcatcher would be something totally different from the happy and light-hearted debuts girl groups usually do.

Eventually, Dreamcatcher would make their re-debut releasing their re-debut title track song “Chase Me” and it made a major impact among the K-pop community. As a matter of fact, K-pop fans claim they were reminded of anime music because “Chase Me” sounds like something J-rock girl group Babymetal would perform or a song featured in an anime.

Minx re-debuted with two additional members as Dreamcatcher. [Featured Image by Happy Face Entertainment]

Before analyzing Dreamcatcher’s debut song “Chase Me” and how it is like a song that would be part of the original soundtrack of an anime, it should be reported why Minx re-debuted in the first place. Prior to what they were now, Minx was somewhat like any other K-pop girl group, utilizing concepts overly used by them. Their debut song “Why Did You Come To My Home” gained some recognition but did not even place on the Korean Gaon chart. The same outcome happened for their K-pop comeback “Love Shake,” but there was another negative added to the mix: they came off as a Dal Shabet clone to some K-pop fans. Let’s not forget the fact that Love Shake, Minx’s first extended play (EP) or mini-album in which the song “Love Shake” is featured, did not even break 2,000 copies sold. That is really bad.

In order to become competitive, Minx had to change, go a different direction. Utilizing a horror or creepy theme was very unique because nobody was using it. It surely made Minx stand out. However, the said theme would not fit well with a girl group named Minx. Ergo, Dreamcatcher was made and on January 12, they made their debut with “Chase Me,” as reported by Soompi.

At this moment, the music video has almost 760,000 views on Happy Face Entertainment’s official YouTube channel with over 50,000 likes and over 6,500 comments. To understand how much of an impact Dreamcatcher made, Minx’s debut song’s music video currently has only above 666,000 views within two years while their second song’s music video only has over 864,000 views in one year. In less than a week, Dreamcatcher’s music video for “Chase Me” almost surpassed anything Minx has done.

Babymetal, a J-rock girl group, is one of the most popular Japanese musical acts in the business today. [Image by Mike Pont/Getty Images]

Though Dreamcatcher’s concept may seem brand new to general K-pop fans, especially those who like to follow girl groups, it is actually very similar to another East Asian country’s music, Japan. According to many K-pop fans who’ve commented on Dreamcatcher’s social media such as Twitter or on the music video for “Catch Me” itself, the girls singing backed by hard rock instrumentals reminds them of J-rock. Some have said “Chase Me” can be a theme for an anime or a song popular J-rock girl group Babymetal would perform.

To be frank, utilizing a new sound for K-pop makes them stand out among Korean girl groups, but by having similarities to J-rock, it opens Dreamcatcher to a new fan base that may not be interested in K-pop in the first place. There are many metal fans who love Babymetal as proven by their sudden spike in popularity last year. It could be possible those same metal fans will enjoy Dreamcatcher.

Ultimately, Dreamcatcher will probably have more of an impact internationally which is a very good direction to go. The South Korean music industry it starting to realize there is more money to be made to appealing to international fans more than domestic fans. Maybe that is why entertainment labels are now making international acts more so than just K-pop acts just like EXO or Varsity.

[Featured Image by Happy Face Entertainment]