The advent of the Covid era, with us all hunkered down in isolation, was a good time to explore my growing interest in Kpop group Twice. I’d discovered them the year before in my Asian pop/library studies year. The interest was further fueled by my purchase of the book Twice, the first biography of the group, by Jamie Hind. Old Jamie provided a nice overview of their career so far and of each of the nine individuals that make up Twice. By 2020 there was a lot of Twice lore to unpack (not to mention all the music videos, which were fabulous) and my knowledge of the group was increased by fans (Onces – cute, huh?) on social media who provided memes and commentary that supplemented my knowledge. I could feel my obsession with them growing – yet another phase coming on.
At this point in their career, with Covid happening and concerts not happening, they had started a reality TV show called Time to Twice to keep them in the spotlight. The show put them through various scenarios, like going back to school, playing games, or doing karaoke, usually with some competition in place and rewards for ‘winners’. The whole point was to show their personalities and their inter-personal interactions, and as such was a lot of fun to watch. I particularly liked how the younger members were seen referring to their older members as ‘unnie’ – a respectful Korean term for one’s elders. Around this time I was starting to zero in on which member of the group was my favourite – my bias. At first I thought it was Sana – she of the pigtails flick in the Like Ooh Ahh video and the ‘Shy Shy Shy’ line in Cheer Up. But it quickly became clear that Mina was the one for me. She was just so elegant and so beautiful. And she was also a bit of a nerd! How could I resist?
By 2021 I started collecting and listening to their albums. I ordered a bunch of them off the internet mostly through Ebay. There were a lot of cheaper second-hand copies going (always without the cards that collectors keep) and I snapped them up. The prospect of receiving them in the mail was always exciting. This was the era of their More and More EP and Eyes Wide Open album. The songs were fantastic. I think the lead singles More and More and I Can’t Stop Me helped me get through Covid. I discovered a store in Melbourne that was dedicated to Kpop music called Happy Town. I started visiting it and snapping up more Twice albums, this time with the cards included because they were new. The obsession/phase was in full swing by this point, and it has continued to grow. I have kept up with their amazing discography (which now includes subunits like Misamo and solo releases), seen them live three times, and spent large parts of my days happily thinking and dreaming Twice. I recently watched a bluray of their Japan concert for the Ready To Be tour, which was the best yet. And I did a fun project where I genrified their entire output to compile a bunch of Spotify playlists. These include Twice Rock, Twice Hip Hop, Twice Funk, Twice Drum n Bass, Twice Dance, Twice Soul, and more. This year is the tenth anniversary of their existence. I hope they never break up (if they do, it will break my heart).
