HYBE’s new virtual girl group is already taking the heat. SYNDI8 was recently soft-launched through a series of illustrations. The illustrators have already been under fire for “catering to incels” by purposefully highlighting the characters’ crotches.

That issue seems to be the tip of the iceberg. It was revealed that the member Raven is actually a man.

A series of conversations between Raven and the other members depict the concept. Raven, who’s real name is Ryu Han Gyeol, instructs the other members to stop calling him “oppa,” and to call him “unnie” instead.

Raven: “That’s right, we have to be careful of this. From now, you guys need to think of me as a woman. It’ll be a disaster if you accidentally call me oppa.

Canary: “Gasp, that’s true.”

Raven: “Why don’t you guys just call me ‘unnie’?”

Canary: “Got it, unnie.”

Raven: “Yes, Nary. Goyo, try it out too.”

Goyo: [emoticons]

While the concept of a man disguising himself as a girl to enter a girl group was considered “perverted” enough, what angered netizens further was how the illustrators seemed to differentiate Raven from the girls by his crotch area. While the girls had their crotch area emphasized…

…Raven did not.

Raven’s original character was also drawn as a handsome and muscular man.

Netizens heavily criticized HYBE for their concept.

• Ah, they’re really doing all sorts of sh*t. Dirty.
• Wow, kekeke, is there even anyone who likes this sort of thing?
• You know how disgusted I am by this? I’m currently a fan of another group from their company, but this is so disgusting that it makes me think about leaving the fandom.
• Ah, I want to puke.
• What in the worl is this…
• Wow, but virtual or not, the illustrations are so tacky.
• It’s so gross how they’re emphasizing the crotches. Everything makes me want to barf.
• It’s so gross how they differentiate between the crotches.

What do you think?

Source: Theqoo

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