Pledis Entertainment's new group TWS (Tours) collaborated with writer Cheon Gye-young.
On the 12th, the agency Pledis Entertainment said, “Artist Cheon Gye-young used a cartoon in the cover design of the Weverse Albums ver. for the 1st mini album ‘Sparkling Blue’, the debut album of TWS (Shinyu, Dohoon, Youngjae, Hanjin, Jihoon, Kyungmin). Provided the original drawing of ‘Unplugged Boy’. “The cover design of this album includes illustrations of the two main characters of ‘Unplugged Boy,’ Kang Hyeon-gyeom and Chae Ji-yul,” he said.
It has been 25 years since HOT that author Cheon Gye-young, one of the figures who led the Korean comics craze in the 1990s, collaborates with a K-pop group. Author Cheon immediately attracted attention as soon as he appeared in the comics world with 'Unplugged Boy' in 1996, and his follow-up work, 'Audition', sold more than 1 million copies and gained syndrome popularity. At that time, author Cheon's influence spread throughout the cultural world. HOT, the most popular idol group in the 1990s, produced an animation music video for the song 'Our Vow' (1998) from their 3rd full-length album, and artist Cheon participated in the character design of this music video, creating a huge stir.
In 2024, a little over 25 years later, it has been a long time since we were able to see artist Cheon Gye-young's drawings in the works of a K-pop group. The title of track 2 of TWS' 1st mini album is 'unplugged boy', the same as Chun's masterpiece 'Unplugged Boy'. Not only is the title the same, but the colors of the cartoon characters are also consistent with the identity that TWS stands for.
TWS spreads bright energy that makes you want to be with them at every moment, and their music is also filled with pleasant, refreshing tunes. They also promote their own genre, 'Boyhood Pop', to stimulate the pure and beautiful emotions of boyhood.
Kang Hyeon-gyeom, the male protagonist of writer Cheon Gye-young's 'Unplugged Boy', is also a pure, harmless, honest and lively character. This collaboration adds meaning through the emotional common denominator between TWS and the character Kang Hyeon-gyeom.
TWS said through its agency, “The debut album became even more meaningful as artist Cheon Gye-young’s illustrations were included in our first mini album Weverse. “I hope that through author Cheon’s beautiful illustrations, this album can be refreshing to some and nostalgic to others.”
TWS will make its official debut by releasing 'Sparkling Blue' at 6 PM on the 22nd. This album contains a total of 5 songs, including the title song 'First meeting doesn't go as planned', 'unplugged boy', 'first hooky', 'BFF', and 'Oh Mymy: 7s'.
Meanwhile, 'Sparkling ver.' and 'Lucky ver.' of 'Sparkling Blue' Following the album, 'Weverse Albums ver.' will be released at 11 am on the 12th. Pre-order sales begin. 'Weverse Albums ver.' is packaged in a cartoon format with illustrations of artist Cheon Gye-young's work 'Unplugged Boy'.
Kim Se-ah, Ten Asia reporter haesmik@tenasia.co.kr