Dreamcatcher Continues Fan Interactions And Fun Content In August

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In the K-Pop world, a consistent level of interaction and public appearances for fans, even outside of the normal promotions schedule, is the norm for many groups. Part of maintaining this is a consistent level of content, and Dreamcatcher, as I've said before, is perhaps one of the most prolific content creators out there for a group in their popularity tier. In the Dreamcatcher Video Database that I maintain, I recently passed 4,500 videos cataloged between official (company-associated) and unofficial (fan-generated) content, which for a group in their eighth year is pretty darned good. And even though we recently engaged in a promotions schedule that was lighter than usual, the group has nevertheless kept up with giving fans something to look forward to. Let's check out how Dreamcatcher spent their first full week in August doing just that!

Combination offline and video call fansigns continued into this past week, making up the majority of Dreamcatcher's public appearances and video content. As always, the member shenanigans through various props and costumes, continued performance of swagger B-side "2 Rings" and all the pictures and video that came out of these events were the highlights. I've always been impressed that after years of these events that Dreamcatcher have found ways to create memories and not make the events seem too same-y, especially for repeat attendees. That said, anecdotally I've been made aware of the fact that, at least on the video call front, there have been many first-timers this era, and it's always been great to hear about excited fans getting their very first opportunity to chat with Dreamcatcher. Their back-loaded fansign schedule will seem to lend itself to a few more opportunities for fansign newbies in the very near future, too.

That said, the sheer amount of fansigns, which continue into this week, has generated some concern about member health, particularly in the wake of both SuA and Handong needing to take at least a day to pop out of the schedule to take a rest. While I do get some folks being worried, generally my opinion is that the company has historically not been hesitant to A)pull a member from the schedule if it seems like they wouldn't be able to work and B)seems to always discuss with the member their own opinion about doing so.

With an aggressive two months out of the next three slated for heavy travel and touring, I'd rather they pull the trigger more quickly on sitting a member than not, and believe they'd even cancel activities if it seemed dire. That they have not seems to show that these appear to be blips in an otherwise tolerable schedule (SuA, for example, was back within a day, and Handong will get an extra day of rest), so until we hear otherwise, it's my opinion that we should trust the company and members' judgment on this front.

In addition to the fansigns, we saw some delayed variety content this past week as both Soompi and The Star Magazine put out JUSTICE-era videos featuring Dreamcatcher. Soompi in particular has been fun to me because of the slightly different types of content they've had the group do, and 100 questions just added to that. The Star Magazine did a bit more of "the usual" in terms of K-Pop variety content, but with no Weekly Idol this comeback era the presence of Random Play Dance as well as a team pair-off of Q&A questions were variety comfort food for fans. I personally appreciated the JiU/Dami team, which for some reason we haven't seen much of during Dreamcatcher's tenure, but everyone made me laugh, as usual.

The official YouTube channel also threw in their bit of Dreamcatcher content this past week as behind-the-scenes videos continued to roll out. As expected, we got to see a bit of how shortened promotions went, and a double helping of Dreamcatcher's Notes was just the ticket. And while there were plenty of insights about styling and meeting up with fans as per usual, I did have to say I noticed Handong featuring prominently for me with the funny moments she was a part of. I've been saying this since she came back from China in 2021, but Handong has really come into her own with a mix of a mischievous streak of comedy and straight-shooting talk, and she didn't disappoint here.

That individual ability to entertain in your own style and with memorable personality has never been a problem for Main Dancer SuA, who got to celebrate her birthday with fans during a birthday livestream on YouTube this past week. Opting for a fun gaming livestream, SuA picked up Human Fall Flat, a game that she's played before on livestream, and proceeded to have almost an hour and a half of laugh-out-loud shenanigans with a small group of fans. From accidentally drowning a few times to messing up by leaving everyone behind to wondering how to operate the boat and more, SuA's second Human Fall Flat stream didn't disappoint. You can check out some of the English-subbed highlights via the insomnicsy channel.

Even though Dreamcatcher is working a lighter schedule in August so far, their future plans continued to take shape. An offline event for Shanghai later this month, the first to be held in China (and something Handong, in particular, has been looking forward to), was announced, and Dreamcatcher also greeted fans in a video for KCON Germany, slated to be one of the group's stops in September. These showed that even with Dreamcatcher getting a bit of a break from the public eye, they're already moving towards more content for themselves, the fans, and for K-Pop as a whole. As always, you can count on me to report weekly on everything Dreamcatcher so for all that, and more, I'll see you here next Sunday!

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