I didn’t plan on making this post, but as I wrapped up the last of my K-pop specific countdowns for this year, I realized it would be fun to compile them together and see which overall comebacks came out on top. After all, a K-pop comeback is more than just the title song.
So, I took the five categories that aren’t already cumulative and gave them a weighted rank, meaning number one gets ten points, number two gets nine, number ten gets one and anything below that counts as one point each. The only outlier was the albums list, which I split into two categories (mini and full). I gave the number one in each category ten points, and went down the list from there. Hopefully that makes sense!
Here are the countdowns I included as part of this aggregate:
Top 50 Songs
Top 10 Albums
Top 10 Music Videos
Top 10 Choreography
Top 40 B-Sides
9. Woodz – Only Lovers Left
Title track(s): 0 points
Album: 6 points
Music Video: 0 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 5 points
TOTAL: 11
8. Lucy – Gatcha!
Title track(s): 1 point
Album: 9 points
Music Video: 0 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 4 points
TOTAL: 14
7. Golden Child – Game Changer / DDARA
Title track(s): 1 point
Album: 8 points
Music Video: 0 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 9 points
TOTAL: 18
6. TXT – The Chaos Chapter: Freeze / Fight Or Escape
Title track(s): 6 points
Album: 7 points
Music Video: 7 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 1 points
TOTAL: 21
5. Brave Girls – Summer Queen / After ‘We Ride’
Title track(s): 9 points
Album: 8 points
Music Video: 6 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 1 points
TOTAL: 24
4 (tie). OnlyOneOf – Instinct Pt.1
Title track(s): 9 points
Album: 0 points
Music Video: 8 points
Choreography: 10 points
B-Sides: 1 point
TOTAL: 28
4 (tie). Key – Bad Love
Title track(s): 4 points
Album: 7 points
Music Video: 9 points
Choreography: 7 points
B-Sides: 1 points
TOTAL: 28
3. SHINee – Don’t Call Me / Atlantis
Title track(s): 8 points
Album: 10 points
Music Video: 0 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 13 points
TOTAL: 31
2. ONF – My Name / City Of ONF
Title track(s): 11 points
Album: 9 points
Music Video: 5 points
Choreography: 0 points
B-Sides: 7 points
TOTAL: 32
1. Golden Child – YES.
Title track(s): 9 points
Album: 10 points
Music Video: 10 points
Choreography: 5 points
B-Sides: 1 point
TOTAL: 35
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Was actually wondering about you doing a countdown like this during the morning! Great list!
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I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before!
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Seeing all my favorite comebacks at the top…is just…so goddamn satisfying. I still believe that ONF comeback is one of the most finest in K-pop. Second would of course be OnlyOneOf, and I’d give third to Golden Child’s YES. Mini!
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This is pretty cool. I actually expected Atlantis to win but those MV and Choreo points pushed YES over the edge I see. I feel like I’d have give OnlyOneOf’s Instinct Pt. 1 as the best comeback of the year. Everything about it was just insanely striking and quite daring. It sparked a lot of conversation and got a lot of eyes from the kpop community and just felt like the most memorable comeback for me on all fronts.
Even tho I’m salty that 8D was unable to capitalize on all the hype and attention that followed the Libido era (not only did they squandered it but somehow fucked things up with whatever the fuck the Love situation was) I do hope that Instinct Pt. 2 can be just as iconic as the first..
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If YES was at third and ONF at first, this is exactly my list.
But btw, wasn’t After We Ride supposed to be the repackage of Summer Queen? The album cover bills it as the 5th Album Repackage…
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Oh, you’re right! For some reason I didn’t think After We Ride included the tracks from Summer Queen… maybe because that’s how I have it organized in my music library.
I reconfigured the points, which rightfully boosted Brave Girls up a few notches.
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I like your choices. I also thought SF9 had a good year and Oneus just didn’t sleep. They were everywhere.
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ONF was definitely my top artist of the year, followed by Oneus. For girl groups it was StayC. Cheers to another good year of music in 2022!
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