Hey guys, SquidMaster here. Today, I want to share 3 important thoughts about JYP's new girl group, ITZY. For those not familiar with the group, ITZY is a 5-member group featuring Yuna, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, Lia, and Yeji. You can read more about them by clicking on their artist tag here. 

1) The JYP expectation

There is already an enormous expectation for these girls to succeed because they are debuting under JYP, one of the 'Big 3' entertainment companies in Korea. Just take a look at some of the previous JYP girl groups - Wonder Girls, miss A and TWICE. They all became K-pop sensations not very long after their debuts. ITZY will be pressured to maintain the JYP prestige as their newest project.

In addition, there is an even larger expectation placed on Shin Ryu Jin, who won 1st place in the girls' placements for YG's survival show, 'MIXNINE.' People are going to demand great things from her, and I hope she has the will to overcome these expectations and show the world what she's got.

2) They're visuals... all of them...

All 5 members could be the designated "visual" in any girl group in K-pop right now. This speaks to how to standards of beauty in K-pop is still sky-high, and may still be rising. It also shows how the companies are placing visuals as one of the top priorities. YG himself said in his survival show, 'YG Treasure Box', that in his boy-group, he would focus on "Their looks first, their talent second." 

That's not to say that this group isn't talented. Shin Ryu Jin and Hwang Ye Ji have already established themselves as charismatic dancers. Chaeryeong may be as talented as her IZ*ONE sister, Chaeyeon. The group is definitely talented, but the identity of the 'visual' role in a group seems to be fading away: everyone needs to be drop-dead gorgeous now.

3) ITZY is the powerful, girl-crush image JYP desperately needs

JYP is no doubt a versatile company, and they are able to consistently pull off different concepts for their groups (think GOT7's "Just Right'" vs. "Hard Carry"). Personally, however, I haven't really felt a badass, powerful concept come out of JYP for a long time, especially from a girl group. TWICE is one of my favorite groups, but we probably will never see a girl-crush concept come out of them for a while, if ever. ITZY has the opportunity to establish themselves as the resident girl-crushers of JYP, and appeal to audiences that JYP has failed to attract in the past. This is what made Black Pink (and 2NE1 before that) so successful at YG, so I think we can expect similar things from ITZY.

What do you think of my 3 thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.