I’ve recently been getting a lot of Kickflip content on my fyp and while watching their fortune telling video, I remember suddenly noticing that something was off. That’s when it hit me that Amaru was missing. I went to see what happened and learnt that he’s been on hiatus since last September due to health issues which makes it almost 6 months now.
I’m glad that he’s taking a break and it’s much better that he does this for his overall health but I ended up wondering about how the re-integration would take place. Kickflip is a very new group and only debuted last year meaning that if the hiatus keeps up, he’ll have been on hiatus for longer than he wasn’t.
So far even when I see specific members go on hiatus- the group is usually already established enough that the fans are able to notice/there’s a lot of content including the absent member from the past.
Don’t get me wrong- hiatus is a good thing and it can mean recovery/rest but I think it also creates a subtle gap that might be difficult to bridge. For instance, there are probably many new fans coming in and watching their content who aren’t aware of the fact that one of them is on hiatus especially if they’re just casually viewing their content. I’ve also noticed that they are doing a lot more variety shows/ other endeavors with Kyehoon in particular doing all kinds of things meaning that more fans will be introduced to them through this variety angle.
You can also see a change in the rapport between members comparing them to early days. I remember seeing some of their videos then versus recently and I felt like they all became way more comfortable with each other and sure of themselves. We see more of Kyehoon and Donghyeon bickering and getting along really well, Juwang being established as someone they all tease, Donghwa continues to be mischievous, Keiju seems more comfortable making jokes, Minje seems more relaxed on camera etc. All of this is likely the product of having had to work together for such a long time.
I’m not sure how to close this general line of thinking but I’m interested in hearing what you all think. Do you have any examples in which you’ve seen this go well or not so well? The closest other group I can think of is when HaSeul from Loona went on a very long hiatus back in 2020 but she had technically been an active member since 2016 so I think it’s a very different situation.
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