Fantasy Boys remains positive despite debut as 11-member group

K-pop

Published: 21 Sep. 2023, 18:34 Updated: 21 Sep. 2023, 21:22

Fantasy Boys remains positive despite debut as 11-member group

Fantasy Boys performs title track for its debut EP "New Tomorrow" during a showcase held at the Blue Square performance venue in central Seoul on Thursday ahead of the boy band's debut [CHO YONG-JUN]

Life threw Fantasy Boys a lemon, so the 11 members of the newly-debuting boy band made sure they got the sweetest lemonade out of it.

Fantasy Boys, comprised of the winners of MBC’s boy band audition program of the same name, debuted on Thursday with its first EP "New Tomorrow." The boy band's debut EP features a title track with the same name, an upbeat dance beat that "fits the vibe of going on a holiday," alongside two other tracks: "One Shot" and "Shangri-La."

“As the name of our EP and title track suggest, we are promising a ‘New Tomorrow,’” member Hong Sung-min said during a press showcase held at the Blue Square performance venue in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Thursday ahead of the band’s debut.

“It’s about a new and fresh tomorrow that we are presenting to you,” he added.

"All 11 members loved it when we first learned that we were going with a refreshing concept for our debut album," Kang Min-seo said. "I think the refreshing style is the one that suits us the best."

The 11 members performed “New Tomorrow” during the showcase without a flinch, but they shared that they were, in fact, very nervous.

“I’m so nervous at the moment,” Kang said. “But even when we are all nervous, we tried our best at least not to be nervous on stage, as we rely on each other.”

“We put on many performances for ‘Fantasy Boys,’ so I thought we’d learned to be less nervous,” Hong said. “But even so, we were holding each other’s hands as we walked up on stage.”

“I also want our fans to know that we are less nervous because we have them watching us,” he added.

Fantasy Boys poses for the camera during a press showcase held at the Blue Square performance venue in central Seoul on Thursday ahead of the band's debut later that day. [POCKETDOL STUDIO]

Yu's absence on Thursday did not affect the other members, but the case between the yet-to-debut star and the agency has brought attention to one of the toughest debuts in K-pop history.

“To be honest, all 11 of us were chosen by Bandi [Fantasy Boys’ fandom name], so the band is formed by our fans who have sent us love and support, and we are all centers of the band," Hong said.

“Now, we're done competing with each other and we're together as one,” Kim said. “We’ve been talking with each other extensively as we prepared our debut album, and I think the more we talked, the more the bond between the members got even stronger.”

Fantasy Boys also talked about its ambition to get No. 1 trophies from weekly music shows and land the band’s tracks on real-time music charts in the future.

“I think our strength lies in the fact that we are a multinational band, so we strive to best utilize that strength and have ourselves rank on music charts around the world,” Kim said.

Eleven-member boy band Fantasy Boys debuted with its first EP "New Tomorrow" on Thursday [POCKETDOL STUDIO]

Fantasy Boys has six Korean members: Kim Gyu-rae, Hong Sung-min, Oh Hyeon-tae, Lee Han-bin, Kang Min-seo and Kim Woo-seok; two Chinese members: Ling Qi and K-Soul; two Japanese members: Hikaru and Hikari; and one Korean American member, Kaedan.

The winner of the show, Yu Jun-won, and the boy band’s agency Pocketdol Studio failed to come to an agreement for a contract, resulting in Fantasy Boys debuting without Yu.

The conflict between could-have-been member Yu came to light on Aug. 23 when Fantasy Boys' agency announced that he would not be joining the group because he and his parents demanded that Yu get a higher cut of the income since he won the highest number of votes out of all members.

The agency claimed that while all other 11 members agreed to split their individual incomes 50:50, with half going to the artist and half to the agency, Yu’s parents demanded that he get 60 percent and insisted that Yu will not sign the contract unless their demand was met.

Yu, on the other hand, argued that the company wrongly charged the members for a cost that should be covered by the company but was instead split with the members of the band. The bandmates were also forced to agree to a five-year contract, which was excessively long, according to Yu’s attorney.

Yu had filed for an injunction on his exclusive contract with Fantasy Boys' production company Phunky Studio on Aug. 22. Phunky Studio, on the other hand, filed a civil suit against Yu demanding 3 billion won ($2.3 million) in compensation for failing to keep the promise that all contestants made during the audition program that they would sign a five-year contract for their debut on Sept. 13.

The two sides' horns were tightly locked until even just a day before the debut.

Fantasy Boys poses for the camera during a press showcase held at the Blue Square performance venue in central Seoul on Thursday ahead of the band's debut later that day [POCKETDOL STUDIO]

On Sept. 19, Yu wrote on his Instagram account that Phunky Studio pushed the date of the trial by intentionally not receiving the court letter. A day later, the company explained that the company had simply not seen it and that such events happen often and are not intentional.

The first trial will be held on Oct. 17.

Meanwhile, the 11 Fantasy Boys plan to hold a fan concert on Oct. 21 in Japan, in celebration of the band's debut.

BY CHO YONG-JUN,YOON SO-YEON [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]