Music / Idols
20110902_seoulbeats_heechul2

Without Heechul, what will become of Super Junior?

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Written by On September 4, 2011

Heechul’s departure from Super Junior this month has caused an uproar of unnecessary chatter.  His leave for the army, confirmed by SM Entertainment, has left fans wondering, will this forever change the world of the Super Junior we know and love?

The super group of 13 fashionably dressed and polished young men was designed by SM Entertainment as the chameleon of K-Pop.  The whole idea was to have a group that could fluctuate and evolve as naturally as a menstrual cycle.  Band members would depart to possibly become solo artists, new bands would sprout from the original like mold on bread, and new members would replace the old. It’s a lot like Saturday Night Live actually, with a changing cast to keep things fresh.

We must remember the original tagline created for Super Junior: “The gate towards stardom in Asia.”  Super Junior was never meant to be stagnant, but a place where young men could go to reach fame. And once they reached fame, they could go on with their celebrity and reach levels of greatness beyond the confines of being in a super band. Basically, Super Junior is like a K-Pop idol internship.

Many fans have misunderstood Super Junior since their inception in 2005. This misunderstanding was demonstrated during the great Super Junior protest of ’07, when SM first introduced new members and fans freaked out and started protesting that Super Junior should only have 13 dudes. 14?!?  God forbid.

SM retaliated and explained the initial revolving band concept, but some fans still can’t accept the idea. Heechul’s leave has shown that many Super Junior fans are still struggling with change.  Change is tough, but we have to deal with it.  We have to deal with the fact that Heechul will no longer be strutting in fashionable camo, but you know, the real camo. The kind of camo you wear in war.

We shouldn’t think of Heechul’s departure as a crippling downfall for Super Junior, but instead a rebirth.  A chance for Super Junior to bring on the next talent and K-Pop wonder boy.  It’s like when Elvis left for the military, making room for emerging talents like The Beatles.

And if Super Junior falls to slump status (like many a season of SNL) due to the loss of a popular member such as Heechul, there’s always hope for a healthy relapse. See you in two years Heechul.

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  • Revy

    I really don’t understand why some fans are freaking out. It’s not like it’s the end of the world. Seriously everyone knows that korean males have to enter the military before 30

    • maldita

      The thing is, Heechul is and has always been Super Junior’s most popular member. He’s the most known to the general public from all his variety show appearances and acting gigs back in Super Junior’s earlier years. He’s probably the only member who doesn’t need the Super Junior label to be recognized. His going off to the military is really gonna not put a dent musically on Super Junior, but it’s a big hit for the group and to the general K-pop scene.

      Apart from Kangin (who escaped to the army after all the trouble he caused), Heechul’s the first 2nd gen idol to actually go. The last ones we’ve heard of going to the army are the 1st gen idols, and they’re all slowly coming back. Heechul marks the transition because he the first post 2002 debut idol to go. He even enlisted before Rain and Se7en, of all people! It’s a big deal to even non-Super Junior fans because it’s a reminder that their oppas are off to leave very, very soon.

  • Mgflutie87

    What will become of Super Junior? Well they’ll be short one asshole ugly untalented member, so that’s a plus!

    • S_elenita_

      Wtf ? Really? Havent you ever heard that if you dont have anything to nice to say then dont say anything at all okay ? Goodbye wasted a whole minute writing a reply to you ~

    • http://twitter.com/ErikinaDaisy Erika Ward

      Dude if you have such rude things to say don’t waste out time and dont say anything at all – If you’re even at all a Super Junior fan, you should know that tehy are all essential to the team – especially Kim Heechul!

  • hkg

    Is it just the international fans that are freaking out?  I would think the Korean fans would be used to their male entertainers leaving for the army.

  • guest

    you know, I find it funny that despite the fact that a majority of the seoulbeats authors say they dislike Heechul, there have been a slew of articles about him going to the army. If a majority of you guys find him distasteful, why give him more attention? js

    • Anonymous

      Its not so much that heechul going into the military as it is a really popular person from the second generation of idols going to the military.  Its a bit of a newer experience to the newer fans of kpop. I am used to it since I had to watch H.O.T and my favorite Shinhwa members enlist already but for the newer fans that got introduced to kpop through suju and dbsk this is new to them. 

    • aznboy

      What second generation idol debuting from at least 2005 has gone to the army? (besides 2AM Changming who went to the army before debut), specially  when considering Heechul is one of the most popular members in SUJU,.Whether you like something or not you should report it, specially if it is a big deal in the community. This is the first time someone from a band I like is going into the army while they are still active.

  • Anonymous

    Fans just need to get over it, this is just the beginning. From this year on, super junior members will be enlisting left and right. In fact many of the second generation idols including the dbsk members are going to begin enlisting within the next couple years.

  • and then the crowd hates

    Okay, Heechul leaving was a big deal and all, but what the heck? There are OTHER MEMBERS. Honestly, everyone is just overreacting because Heechul is the first to go (Kangin excluded) and after him, the group won’t be together for a very long time because when one enters, after a year, so does another. But really, Heechul leaving won’t be the reason Super Junior fades away – even if they do, but we don’t know yet – it’d be because they won’t be out on the scene for a very long time.

  • http://twitter.com/jmaytan J-MayTan©

    I am not worried…TBH! there r other popular members in SUJU still…actually they are all popular…

  • Anonymous

    What is Heechul’s talent area?

    • http://twitter.com/ErikinaDaisy Erika Ward

      LOL – I think most people will say that Heechul talent is just being ”Kim Heechul” – ppl say he’s not good at singing or dancing – although I melt inside when I hear him sing and he always looks cute and cool while dancing – he also acts – but when it comes down to it he is a GENIUS at entertaining and he has this unexplained charm about him that is his key to success. Most people call his the visual of SuJu – which is true because he is completely GORGEOUS~! But what makes him special is his laid back and honest attitude – he came into the entertainment world and basically rewrote everything and broke all the taboo’s. Normally when a star debuts they are supposed to be very polite – but Heechul was arrogant and rude saying such things as “Aren’t I pretty? No girl is prettier than me.” and this got him a lot of attention. He also wasn’t afraid to challenge people with his amazing wit like Kang Ho Dong. From the beginnig he has been so funny and witty – He has built up such a reputation that now his talent area is just being himself – He has a lot of loyal fans, he sings, he DJs, MCs, acts, he’s in the most successful KPOP group SuJu and he is just downright cool – Even when jsut standing he looks cool. But what I love about Heechul is that his personality is so big – and he always comes off as an arrogant bad boy or a narcissistic pretty boy when in reality he is very caring and kind. I LOVE THAT CONTRAST! Kim Heechul is the first celebrity I know to be so honest, open, interesting, weird, appealing, complicated and all together REAL! He is no fake and if you watch his shows you can see that! FIGHTING TILL 2013~! SARANGHAEYO KIM HEECHUL~!

  • asianromance

    Heechul isn’t the first Suju member to leave the group.  Kang-in has already gone to the army.  Ki Bum has been MIA forever.  Han-geng has left for good.  And Si Won has his acting projects that do take him away some times. They haven’t been at full Suju capacity for quite some time and still manage to do fine.  I think they will try to stagger it so that they don’t all leave at once.  And two years can flash by really fast.  Heechul made a good decision to go now that his popularity is solid and it’s at the height of his popularity.  There will be tons of fans waiting for him when he returns in 2 years.

  • Erika Ar Ward

    Wait a second. I know that SuJu started off as a rotational group where they would replaces old members with the new), but I though that after their debut they cancelled that idea due to how much the fans loved the group. Isn’t that idea gone now?? Or are they still thinking about it, because Heechul left for two years, but he didn’t leave SuJu (He’s living at the dorms right now) and in 22 months he will be back on stage with SuJu. But are you telling me that in like 5 years from now, the older member of SuJu will be replaced by younger ones? That’s just wrong. To me SuJu is like a family. You can’t just replace people because they are getting older…. 

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