Rookie SM girl group Hearts2Hearts are throwing their hat in the J-pop ring with their first original Japanese single. Iconic Heart arrives on the heels of a very successful 2026 in Korea. The group’s bright pop sound seems tailor-made for Japanese tastes, but Iconic Heart lacks the effusive hooks of their best work.
Right off the bat, we’re greeted with stabs of synth, predicting a quirky and somewhat unsettled instrumental to come. The production throws 2020s sonic tropes into a blender — a little garage here, a little hyperpop zaniness there. The instrumental doesn’t commit to any one thing, which will likely be to its benefit in the long run. However, this also makes it tricky to establish a core identity. I feel like I could throw a stone in any direction of the current K-pop/J-pop landscapes and hit another track that sounds very similar to this.
Of course, familiarity is par for the course when it comes to trend-conscious pop music. This is where dynamic songwriting comes in. More and more, I look for the kind of song that could be reinterpreted in just about any genre and sound just as great. In other words, I’m hoping for melodies and hooks that are strong enough to stand on their own. Iconic Heart‘s songwriting mostly just echoes the production, placing the girls’ vocals atop the stabbing synths until both become fused into one fitful sound. To me, this lacks the dynamism and interplay that makes pop music fun. Sadly, it’s a rare miss from SM’s usually-fantastic in-house composer Kenzie.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
SM fleshed out aespa soundscape quite early in their career, but I still have not really figured out H2H sonic concept yet so sometimes I got confused with their offerings. JP releases from girlgroups usually had a different sound compared to their KR counterpart, but this song is something that I would expect ILLIT to come up with magical girl aesthetic and EDM synth production as telltale sign just less catchy and incorporated more rap parts.
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The song is trying very hard to be fun and girly, and succeeding at neither.
Maybe Kenzie is over-worked. Besides her, I don’t know who is in the SM stable of songwriters anymore. There used to be several back in the day.
Anyway, when they sung the words “bouncy bouncy” right there in the first line, my fun-loving heart went back to Rocket Punch’s “Bouncy”. (Then H2H didn’t sing it ever again.) Actual fun. They sound and look like they like their own song too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqggrSpICM0
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I DON’T NEED FAKE GUY BUT AWESOME BOY DON’T STOP 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ truly one of my favorite intros from a 4th gen song it’s so stupid but it works so well
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Indeed, it ranks high on the “kpop lyrics in English” ranking. Somewhere in the “cringey cringetastic” level.
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That song always makes me want to hit the world with rocket punch! They really did that “shouty nonsense” type of song well. Unfortunately hearts2hearts are not nailing it here.
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I really appreciate your ongoing dedication to Bouncy. After all these years, mymagoogle is still bouncing
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(Should I also add Juice juice juice juice juice from the same era. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEE7It_C85k )
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i guess to get a good review on here you need to be a group comprised of mainly emaciated teen boys. otherwise, the ephebe blogger behind this site won’t show you any good will! it clearly has nothing to do with musical quality. i thought ‘thebiaslist’ was a reference to the popular vernacular most kpop fandoms use, but actually – it’s a reference to the bloggers own bias toward young twinks! good to know! i won’t be checking in again because there is CLEARLY nothing in here for me. this song sounds NOTHING like any of what it is being compared to here, and i genuinely question whether the reviewer even has ears. i wonder if he is just misogynistic because a gg could come out with the best material of the year and he’ll confidently give it a 7, but shinyu could fart into a mic and sing “i’m 18 but got a tight pussy like i’m 8” and he’d find a way to call it high art and you drones would agree with him in the comments. AMAZING! i guess every single kpop fandom space is an echo chamber.
(for legal purposes this is a copypasta)
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lol well done
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to be serious though, he just doesn’t seem to connect with the gg soundscape in recent years. the global pop roundups tend to have plenty of female acts
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What review is this from, I’m in tears 😭
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the kiiikiii review
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this vent was so deep that it made me cry, it reminded me of the intensity a 13 year old girl can carry 😢💔
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Thank you for informing me of the original comment’s existence LMFAO
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Oh I must have left the party over there before the party got good. Thank you for the recap.
… moving on
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nick imagine if girl groups were still releasing lethal hits like these in 2026. I would literally feel so euphoric.
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girls day may as well be my favorite KPOP group lol
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the time when the idols weren’t afraid to let their voices out without sounding like a hissing, plus, Yura invented red hair
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That’s why training is so so important before debut, and also stop debuting minors. 😦
They just simply sing, and they did it so well. They never go for the aegyo, innocent, or any other things that limited themselves into a “concepts” that K-pop so often leans into.
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I think its chorus is underwhleming, but this is the right direction for their jpop sound. Especially with how young they are, the visuals and the sound suit them well
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It’s been said before, but H2H really has the biggest nugu energy of any Big 3 group ever. Their entire output seems to be something like Dia or Busters, both of whom I love, but also had something that this group just doesn’t.
I’ve really not heard anything by them that I’ve thought worth seeking out again. Idk what it is, because this song, for example, should be right up my alley, but I feel absolutely nothing.
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I think it’s cute, but yeah it’s kinda in one ear out the other for me. I wouldn’t skip it if it came on shuffle but the video is a loooot more memorable for me (which isn’t great if you’re reviewing the music). Probably the same rating.
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it is pretty flat-sounding but i prefer it to their earlier releases (like style). kind of like an average-tasting dessert, i’d take it over nothing but i’m not wicked jazzed by it. remarkably inoffensive.
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this song is very meh wish they went with style instead
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You know what I miss, when instrumentals had layers, not just sound effects. Otherwise, it’s an inoffensive listen. The chorus is a little bit sticky and ear-wormy so a 7.5 for me.
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are you going to rate miyeon’s most recent japanese single?
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No, but it’ll appear in the j-pop round-up this weekend.
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Nothing groundbreaking here but a cute song that I enjoyed on first listen.
As for the MV, it’s kind of funny seeing H2H speaking Japanese and playing the role of Japanese schoolgirls in Japan because not a single one of the 8 members is Japanese. This would not be worth remarking upon a few years ago but in recent times it’s actually become very unusual, so it felt almost conspicuous to me when watching this. I feel like almost every new kpop group has at least 1 Japanese member these days.
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