Matching Designer Collectibles with LOONA: CHUU
THE PLAN: I have been thinking of doing this for some time now. Initially I had wanted go start a "sketch challenge", using "March of Robots" as a starting point, but "lack of doodling skills" elude me, so ... Instead what I now hope to do, as had been my initial intention - is to match and recommend a collectible toy to members of South Korean girl group "LOONA" - using their dedicated animal(s) as a guide.
I had planned to start with HeeJin (in tandem with my feature on Tunes Talk), but have decided to start with Chuu, in honour of her appearance and reveal as "Spring Girl" in South Korea's reality singing program "Masked Singer" over the weekend!
WHO-ARE: For the uninitiated (and who have chosen to continue reading this - thank you): "Loona (stylized as LOOĪ Ī) is a South Korean girl group formed by Blockberry Creative. Its twelve members were revealed in a periodic fashion, corresponding to their Korean name Idarui Sonyeo (ģ“ė¬ģ ģė ), which translates to "Girl of the Month"." (Wiki).
INTRODUCING: Chuu is the tenth member of LOONA to be revealed, and debuted on December 14, 2017, and subsequently released her solo single album "Chuu" on December 28, 2017. She is also a member of its third sub-unit, "yyxy".
I had constantly read about her as a "Instagram celebrity", but her IG-account has since been deleted, prior to her reveal as a member of LOONA. I have seen a few images online tho, and music programs have been showcasing archived snaps too!
Chuu is the creator of the "Chuu Heart", also known as "Apple heart" and "Bite heart" that tons of celebs and idols have adopted doing. Chuu is also known to have done Taekwondo for 7 to 8 years and has a 3rd degree black belt. She would be "Kung Fu Penguin", if I had a proper skill with drawing ~ LOL
These are some basic stats (via loonatheworld.fandom.com) which I will eventually replicate in Tunes-Talk, taking note of her ANIMAL and FRUIT - both of whom have been given to her/them by BBC, based on their impressions of the artist(s), and are not necessarily of their own choices or preferences.
Stage Name: Chuu (Hangul: ģø)
Japanese: ćć„ć¦ (Chuu)
Birth Name: Kim Ji Woo (ź¹ģ§ģ°; éęŗéØ)
Birth date: October 20, 1999.
Color: Peach (ķ¼ģ¹ģ)
Animal: Penguin (ķź·)
Fruit: Strawberry (ėøźø°)
This is how she looks like, with the below-left from her debut circa, 2017, while below-right is from March 2020.
CHOOSING THE TOY: There is not a whole lot of "penguin"-themed collectibles out now - that is not based off a licensed media property, nor a Batman "villain" ... and immediate notion would be a "plush" - so I am giving myself a caveat to NOT recommend a plush lol ... which also meant Friends With You's MALFI is "out" (Pix via depop.com) :p
MY SHORTLISTED COLLECTIBLES:
There are a few Penguin-affiliated iconology, from Pucky's WINTER BABIES, and Dimoo World's DIMOO XMAS ... and while in my toy-loving heart I would nominate THIS figure from South Korean brand Circus Boy Band IF it was painted in a black-n-white Penguin-palette (maybe for Yves' "Swan"? hhmmm :p), I know I would ultimately choose THIS Pucky Xmas figure, because it is my personal favourite - with ironically both the figures shown here belonging to my mum and brother - when I gifted them for Christmas in 2018!
She has mentioned before that contrary to popular perception of her adorable+cutesy persona, her favourite colours are not "pink" nor cutesy tones, but veer toward more vibrant "shocking" colors (in a TMI-seque interview alongside Yves in Behind The Show) ... so my final recommendation might be a tad tricky...
FINAL RECOMMENDATION: My final designer collectible recommendation would be the dedicated Penguin-themed creations of BJD&Toy artist / producer HocA (Insta @panguinlove / Twitter @dollygodnew) - with a PANGORA The Panguin Kaiju! I'd previously featured this North Korea-based designer's CORGI PANGUIN & AURORA WANGGUIN in 2018...!
Reminiscent of a "monster" in the performer known as Chuu (in the BEST way possible), waiting to burst forth with more talents that she has shown us thus far, and devouring all hearts who behold her! Rampaging down a meadow in spring, in search of pizza and tteokbokki ...! Sorry about the pink tho ... at least there's red in the kaiju-horn...? Hoping this'll work for her ... :p
Head to thehnest.com to score yourselves some Penguin-themed cuteness! Now if there was a "strawberry" on the baby 'guin's head, that would be perfect!
ķķøģģ ģ“ģ ė“ģė
ā withMBC (@withMBC) March 31, 2020
źøģ ģ źµ ėæėæ ģøģ <#ė³µė©“ź°ģ>
ė¬“ėė„¼ ģøė” ė¬¼ė¤ģė¤..š¼#ģ“ė¬ģģė #ģø #ė“ģė pic.twitter.com/ssnX7Bd5Vz
#ė“ģė ģ ģ²“ė~~ ė°ė” ģ“ė¬ģ ģė ģø!
ā MBCģė„ģ°źµ¬ģ (@MBC_entertain) March 30, 2020
ģ¬ėģ¤ė¬ģģ“ ėź° ė“ė ź¹ģ§ģ°ģģģģš»š #ė³µė©“ź°ģ #ģ“ė¬ģģė #ģ“ė¬ģ #ģø @loonatheworld pic.twitter.com/N978yHddd2
