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Intro to Plave:

Plave is currently the biggest Kpop group that I actively stan! If you have been in the kpop scene you have probably heard of them. They consist of 5 members, Yejun, Hamin, Eunho, Bamby, and Noah. If I had to choose a bias, it's Bamby and Hamin although I stan each of them as ot5 more. One of the reasons why I stan them besides their music is how funny they are! Anytime I watch compilations of them I know I'm in for a serious laughing session.

Here's some fun facts about them:

First, they are under VLAST which is not a normal kpop/talent agency and is instead specifically for virtual idols where they use motion capture and VFX effects. Plave are absolutely NOT AI and are real people. It's kinda like vtubers where they have a model over them.
Because they are under a tech entertainment company, members of Plave produce and choreograph all of their songs. Yejun, Noah, and Eunho are in charge of producing and writing the songs while Hamin and Bamby are responsible for the choreography.
The members usually have lives where they stream and play games. Because they are not under the same regulations and monitoring of kpop agencies, they are allowed to essentially play whatever game they desire. They have played horror games like Poppy Playtime or shooter games. It's really entertaining to watch them play horror games in particular because some members don't react at all while others *Yejun ahem* get really jumpy.

Things I like about each member since they are all my bias wreckers:

  • I love Noah's rich laugh
  • I really like listening to Noah's voice, especially his covers. People say that his voice is like an electric guitar which I can agree on
  • It's cool how Noah and Bamby are gym rats and love to lift weights and eat chicken breasts (that's why their light stick is a dumbell)
  • I find it so funny how relatable Bamby is. He's really me sometimes (Maybe that's because we have the same mbti)
  • Bamby has a really nice high voice, especially since he's part of the dance line
  • I find it funny whenever Bamby has a glitch he starts beating the glitch up
  • I really love how jumpy Bamby and Yejun are with horror video games. It's so funny watching them especially with the other members who are unfazed
  • I love how Yejun sometimes acts like a grandpa
  • I love how Yejun is so unserious and also locks in as a leader
  • I am obsessed with Yejun's raps because they're so funny
  • I love how Yejun sounds like a divorced middle aged man because his partner cheated on him in some of his ballads and how Noah sounds like his lover is dying in his arms
  • I love Yejun's dancing because it's really funny as well as Eunhos (lol Yejun's iconic antititi fragile dance and "From" dance and Eunho's Rover by Kai he was soo obsessed with that song)
  • Eunho is soo talented what do you mean this guy can rap, sing, compose, has relative pitch, etc.
  • I love how Eunho bickers with Bamby (Especially in that one live for Christmas where he put the quote "I bet Bamby can't reach this high" or something like that on the tree)
  • I love how cool Hamin is with his taekwondo
  • I love Hamin's aegyo and it's definitely prevalent with how he's the maknae
  • I love how soft spoken Hamin's singing is compared to his rapping

Why I decided to stan them:


Before glazing them and listing why I really like them, I'll answer the question of what is stanning and what does it mean in the kpop community? The difference between a stan and a fan is a fan is someone who only listens to their music meanwhile a stan will listen to the music, promote it, keep up with updates of the group, purchase merchandise, attend concerts, and engage with the community. (It's basically just a devoted fan) Being a stan is not the same as being a toxic fan. Kpop has their own term which is a sasaeng. They are characterized as an overly obsessive/stalker/toxic fan. Anyway, Plave is one kpop group that I support and like to engage in more than other kpop artists. Here are my reasons why I've come to support them:
  1. They create really good music
    2. The most obvious thing of why I would like them is because they create songs that I really enjoy. In 2025 for my Spotify Wrapped, they ended up coming on top as my number 1 artist and my list of top 5 songs that I streamed had 3 of their songs. In their discography, I've enjoyed each song except for their osts to be honest. Personally I don't really like slow ballads but I do like all their songs from their albums except "From" from ASTERUM: 134-1 although I have recently been listening to it more and liking it especially because it reminds me of a part from one of their lives where Yejun created his own choreo for the song which was hilarious. Personally, my favorite song from them overall is "Why?" (you can listen to this in the music section of my website) but I also think that "I Just Love Ya" and "Pump Up the Volume" are close seconds. I love the catchiness to their songs and their upbeat tones.
    Not only do they make good music, but they are really talented as well. For example, this video of the producer line (Yejun, Eunho, and Noah) making their song "Pump Up the Volume" really highlights their teamwork and strengths in creating songs and I find it really interesting to compare the video footage to the final verson of the song that's already released.
    The thing about their music is that the stats show and reflect their talent and just how yummy their songs are. They recently came out with their new song "BBUU!" which has topped the charts in Korea despite the fact that they are a virtual idol group. They were the first 5th gen to go on Killing Voice and have gained mass popularity making a name for them in the kpop community.

    Another thing I think they do insanely well is their covers. The first cover of theirs that I actually found was Noahs cover of "Sugarcoat" by Natty from Kiss of Life which blew my mind away with how good it sounded. I really liked the original song and I usually don't like covers but I thought that Noah definitely did it justice. From there on I went down their cover rabbit hole where I found them doing acoustic covers for songs as well. (His cover of "Hype Boy" by NewJeans is also good!)

    The best thing about their covers is that they make sure to make it sound like their own song. If you try to copy the original artist, not only do people start to compare you but you also don't bring anything new to the song. For example, why would you listen to a cover if you could just listen to the original? My favorite covers from each member that showcases this and their vocals are "When I Was Your Man" covered by Noah originally by Bruno Mars, "Boyfriend" covered by Hamin originally by Justin Bieber, "Nan Chun" covered by Yejun originally by Se So Neon, "The Little Prince" covered by Bamby originally by Ryeowook, and "Understand" covered by Eunho originally by keshi.

  2. I find them extremely funny
    3. Before Plave was popular, they went viral for their glitching compilations. This is how a lot of people became fans of them and discovered the world of virtual idols. Now their tech is better but they are still just as funny and unhindged. Plave has streams regualrly where they play video games and have also appeared in a variety of interviews and TV shows. This compilation and this one cracks me up so much and watching videos with them are really entertaining. Also this live here with Yejun and the rap line (Eunho and Hamin the rappers of the group) teaching him how to rap is actually the funniest thing I've ever seen it's actually so good, I was dying for the whole video.

  3. The members have great chemistry
    4. This kinda relates to my point before this but all of the members have so much chemistry together and get along just like a friend group. Apparently Yataz (Bamby and Eunho) (Also if you didn't know Yataz is the name for the pairing of the 2, this is different from a romantic ship name it's more like a team name) knew each other before joining Plave which is why they are so funny together and act like siblings. (istg every video I see with the two of them Eunho is annoying Bamby and Bamby is trying to beat him up lmaoo just like this one)
    Anyway, they are all super funny together and get along.

  4. I love the fact that they are virtual
    5. The last reason why I stan them is because I love their concept of being virtual. Plave is not the first virtual group, but they are the first successful ones to be popular and break into in the mainstream kpop world. I really like groups that break up norms and I feel like Plave is one group that steps in the direction of the unknown and the new things that you can do with technology. (just a reminder again they are not AI)
    I've been very familiar to jpop and utaites (usually amateur singers who post vocaloid covers online using avatars to stay anonymous) where they hide their identity from their music like Ado and Mafumafu and even western and european music has their fair share of artists who hide their identities like Daft Punk, Sia, and Gorillaz so it's really refreshing to see the same thing now in mainstream kpop.

    The kpop industry focuses extremely on the image of idols with impossible beauty standards, and in Korea, beauty is seen as an important value and plastic surgery is very common. This means not only do you need to be a great dancer, singer, and performer, but you also need to look perfect. There have been many idol diets that have gone viral for all the wrong reasons and idols are scrutinized if they look "too fat" or "too ugly." As much as it would be wonderful if the world were to stop caring about looks, it's unrealistic. Virtual idols open up this possiblility for talented people to have a shot at becoming an idol even if they don't fit beauty standards. Also as Ado said for one of her reasons to stay anonymous, it disconnects the music from how someone looks like. In kpop, many fans are notorious to like a group just because of their looks even if they don't even like their music. This idea helps avoid that which is one of the reasons why Plave is so popular. (Their music are bangers, you can't deny that despite them being virtual) Another thing is that because the kpop industry is so competitive, many groups disband or artists become "too old" and aren't popular anymore. Virtual idol groups help past idols or unsuccessful idols have another shot at making it in the industry.
    Virtual idol groups help give privacy. All fandoms and fans of artists have toxic fans, and in kpop they call them sasaengs. These people stalk artists, follow them around and track their locations, are very obsessive, and invade their privacy. Of course virtual idol groups are no exception to this, Plave has had stalkers and doxxers (btw please DO NOT look up or try to find out their identities, this is invading their privacy and considered doxxing) but at least being a virtual idol gives them more privacy outside of their idol life and add another layer of protection especially when they are living their life outside of being a performer.