alright, I gotta know. please explain to me all the ways cube has tried to ruin pentagon. I don't want to live ignorantly, thinking they're just another incompetent company (bc honestly find me a GOOD entertainment agency that treats all their artists fairly, protects them, promotes them regularly, loves them and feeds them 3 square meals a day. doesn't exist.)
you're very right, there's no company like that, and it's a shame even to this day.
and, well, let's see. i'm a bit tired so i'm going with things off the top of my head. i feel like the company has just... very blatantly threatened them different times behind the scenes. especially judging by some words the members have shared. it's always felt like they kind of made pentagon feel like THEY were lacking. like THEY needed to do something to prove themselves. it's sad because the boys have been trying so hard all these years but they can only do so much with such a shitty promotion. first instance i can think of is when the demo eps were released. it all felt rushed (they were released too close to each other) and it was such a pity because demo_01 was the ep that gave them their self-produced title. i don't even know what the company was trying to do, people barely had the time to digest those songs that we got another ep. so like
1) their almost non-existent or badly handed promotion. i swear they just don't seem to know how to cherish and properly promote such a gem group like pentagon. it's so bad.
2) i feel like, over time, the opportunities to show what they're capable of that they were given were just not the right ones. sure, we got some nice content but cube literally do nothing to highlight their entire vocal line. everything that the public could perceive was because of their stage presence. every new fan that got into them, it was thanks to the group. the success and the appreciation of songs, it was thanks to their authenticity while making music. i genuinely believe the group owns maybe 20% (and i'm being kind here) of their success to that agency. being so vocally based they don't have much singing content people can go through, except for magazineho and those hardly updated cover playlists. they could give changgu the space to do covers but do they? no. i think some time in the past he implied that he wanted to upload more songs but that he wasn't allowed to. to be honest i think the company also has favoritisms towards certain members, but it may be just me. and i don't like how they may be pitted against one another (see: pentagon maker) when they love each other so much.
3) shine. before it got released ptg were most likely told that the song had to do well, otherwise they would've been disbanded. hui said shine was a blessing, the reason why pentagon could survive. it got progressively worse with idle debuting (and it's funny how their fans say that ptg are cube's favorites *giggles in i want to be that delusional*)
4) when the summer 2018 mess happened, their fancafe was a mess. kpop fans were spamming the general board with anything and everything. the company knew it and still kept it open for a good 3 to 4+ months. i remember this because they suddenly changed the rules, locked this and that, and i got demoted as well. many of us got demoted for doing nothing. their disorganization never fails to amaze me. so, anyways, there is no way cube didn't know about the rumors that were being made up about them. hell, they even used hui as the scapegoat. shinwon, jinho and hongseok were heavily targeted and the company just did nothing. they were bullied into not leaving the dorms. no lawsuit, no notice, no protection. had a shit ton of schedules to attend and to deal with.
5) all the hiatuses they put yanan through. and for what? yanan could understandbly leave for health reasons but at times it's felt like they were just punishing the guy for doing so. one time it was a miscommunication between the labels, but keeping him away for months to years? like are we serious? there are people who have never seen him with pentagon, and people who got to see him with them after more than a year. the formation changes are so bad too. people are never gonna memorize who's who if the company decides to 'oh yea you go to japan for three months bye' or 'you're staying in china for a year and no one will get an official notice cause we don't care' approximately every two months.
6) rtk. what the hell was that. i hate when ptg have anything to do with mnet to begin with. they were put on this show that just sucked the life out of them, where mnet just used them for clickbait and very obviously rigged it although it was clear they should've won. jinho had to enlist in a hurry, hui was only months away from enlisting and spent sleepless nights arranging songs for like three different projects. they were completely out of it. shinwon even said that at some point hyunggu was so exhausted and mentally worn out that it was impossible for them to talk to him. they even said they were in and out of the hospital because of body pains. still, the company kept them going until the end, even through pain and tears.
7) shall i add bad budgeting. like seriously i'd like to speak to a nevie and understand why they think ptg gets their group's money. have they seen some of ptg's packaging and some of the props for their photoshoots or mvs? my thumbs up album is literally one step away from falling apart because the material is just not good.
please know i don't like talking of such things as i don't want to sound like i am victimizing them. ptg are fun, charismatic, bright, cheerful, full-of-love people. they never ever complain and that's what stings. i'm just so done with the bad things they've had to endure. the boys have always acted like it's sunshine and rainbows and we've all have tried hard to see the good things in everything. we do even nowadays, but there's still a dark side to it.
i'm sure there must have been other instances of ptg being told that they could be disbanded if said thing doesn't sell well (which btw is ridiculous because pentagon have been outselling themselves every comeback). shall i remember anything i'll say it later on, i think i talked a lot for now, i'm so sorry. all i can do is hope that 2023 is REALLY their breakthrough year because i cannot see them in pain anymore. it just doesn't feel fair and i want them to be happy.
