Biggest Music Video Drop Of The Year | FANS REACTIONS

When the biggest female pop star on the planet shares a music video which also doubles as a short film, her following doesn’t simply watch it. The morning of August 13, 2025 saw worldwide timelines and trending lists explode with talk about DREAM, the cinematic short-film music video by LISA (of BLACKPINK). The release was not just about a clip but of course another cultural moment in the bag: a sleek short film featuring Japanese actor Kentaro Sakaguchi, an emotional ballad from LISA’s solo album Alter Ego and narrative elements that compelled fans to respond with awe and heartbreak in equal measure.

Here, we unpack the hows and whys of this mysterious drop that hit so hard, along with a kaleidoscope of its aftermath — TikTok edits and fan theories to thought-piece comments and emotional threads on X.

1. The drop: cinematic, succinct and perfectly crafted

Ostensibly a short film rather than a regular three-minute pop clip, DREAM dropped with cinematic pacing, a structured plot line, and star casting which could easily be imagined as a mini-movie pitch. Presenting the song in short-film form necessitated an elevated drop — it asked viewers to engage with a narrative, not just skim a hook. The short film dropped on August 13 and along with it rolled out on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and X.

That format change matters. In a churn culture of feeds, longer-form visuals lend themselves to increased dwell times, reaction videos (on your channel and the competitors), and more shareable moments — a close-up here; an outfit there; a line reading for clip-able content everywhere. LISA’s team used that potential to the fullest, and fans from all around the world responded live over the numbers.

2. The performance: LISA meets acting on the big screen

The power of the drop lies at the heart of LISA’s performance. Currently renowned for her kinetic dance-pop energy, here she stripped it down to vulnerability – a milder vocal timbre, personal lyrical sentiments and acting decisions that played beautifully with the emotional resonance of Kentaro Sakaguchi. The short received appreciation and attention for the tonal shift from its predecessor, from critics as well as entertainment sites.

This shift created narrative tension: how do you square LISA the pop sledgehammer with LISA the heartbreak story? The answer has been documented in countless reaction videos, and documented meticulously online.

3. Social Reaction — 3 Distinct Camps Emerge Quickly

Three hours after the premiere, fan-generated output immediately fell into three distinct categories:

Emotional reactors: Large threads, videos of crying (rewatching on repeat), people saying they have never related to lyrics/visuals this much before. The short was described as therapeutic by many — a fleeting pop moment that brought some solace to a horrible year. One-line quotes, screenshot posts, or illustrations shaped by a single frame led off social posts.

Critics and cinephiles: At a more granular level is the criticism: Critics and cinephiles everywhere have dissected the direction, color grading in specific scenes, scene composition, etc. These reads did some comparing to indie shorts, they talked about the production values… talking about it as a work of art rather than just another fandom drop.

Fans and conspiracy theorists: Fans scoured the video for Easter eggs — hints from the timeline (some tracks even called back to 2019), lyrical callbacks, casting. Comment sections on forums and subreddits started to fire up with speculations and “what does it all mean” posts.

Such pluralism of response is what transformed one video into dozens of viral reactions – reaction compilations, edited montages, side-by-side comparisons and fan edits that extended the life of the short film across social media.

4. The metrics that mean something (and why the numbers only give you half of the tale)

We are not sure what the exact number of views is right now as the counts keep changing per hour but all early signs show that it has been a widely watched and engaged video across borders. More important than the raw numbers is ecosystem activation: whether there are TikTok dances and edits (even for a ballad), threading references to X threads, discussion on Reddit, coverage in outlets that don’t normally cover K-pop. It’s that very cross-pollination which makes a drop feel “the biggest” in cultural terms — not just how many people clicked play, but how many different corners of the internet responded.

(Transparency note: Headline claims about “the biggest” are based on engagement, reach and conversation volumes, not just a single numeric record. The multi-platform reaction made it one of the most talked-about visuals of the year in this case.)

5. Fan Languages: Memes, Therapy Jokes, Collective Processing

Fans often adopt shared shorthand. And out of DREAM came two immediate language trends:

A serious meme line used by fans indicating the song literally made them cry: “Sending you my bill from therapy.” Posts can be seen with more gentle parody, emphasizing the combination of levity and genuine emotion present in how fans reacted.

The video also fueled cinematic captions and poetry threads — fans re-posted single frames with micro-essays or poetic reflections, a social media gallery of mood pieces that travel well on structured outlets such as Instagram and Tumblr.

These trends spurred on virality: a joke (or any line) takes off, providing creators with easy-to-remix material — and remixability is what drives so much of today’s virality.

6. Cross Marketing Power, And Why An Actor Like Kentaro Sakaguchi Has The World In Awe

Kentaro became known across markets as well. He is already a known movie star in Japan and worldwide, his participation in the short film helped draw the attention of more mainstream press and wider audiences that otherwise would not be reached via music-fan channels. This casting changes a music video into something film communities, entertainment sections and press outlets that might otherwise ignore a solo single can talk about.

The result: stories in entertainment press, fan blogs and mainstream outlets — more places people were exposed to the clip and chimed in on it.

7. The discussion — not every viral drop is smooth sailing

Any major drop invites criticism, and DREAM was no different. Some commentators wondered if a pop star should exploit personal heartbreak for press, or quibbled over the way that the long-form music visual tends to celebrate aesthetics over sonic breakthrough. A few fans had discussions when it came to the slow pacing of the short film for streaming-era audiences. And these conversations are a good thing: they demonstrate maturity in the discourse and that the drop was significant enough to warrant evaluation.

8. Platform dynamics: the video’s habitat, and how platforms fed it

YouTube was the main hub – home to views, premieres and official uploads – but the remix platforms are where things really took off. There were short edits and audio snippets on TikTok; aesthetic feeds and carousel breakdowns on Instagram; live reaction threads went down on X. The different platforms played different roles: YouTube (source), TikTok (remix), Instagram (moodboard) and X (discussion).

This trend is likely to be closely observed by marketers and artists: to make a video “big” in 2025, you must consider each platform pulling their own thread of the narrative and asking for different types of content.

9. What this signifies for LISA as a solo Artist — and the industry

Presenting music videos as short films is a strategic move. LISA, who is known for her high-energy performances, showcased versatility with DREAM and a more emotional and artistic side that seems to defy expectations. A pivot like that can enrich a solo career, endearing casual fans while opening critical ears to further angles of praise. It also reinforces a wider trend in the industry: visual storytelling can be as impactful as sonic hooks, and long-form music videos could soon become the norm again.

10. The fan ripple effect — what to expect next

As we saw with the short film, this release will undoubtedly spark hunts for behind-the-scenes clips, interviews with its director and fashion breakdowns (as fans freeze-frame to identify the looks), plus official reaction cuts. Expect fan-art drops, re-cut edits of the short with other songs and probably even thematic analysis threads from academics. These ripples lengthen the drop cycle and extend its life in cultural conversation for days, not hours.

Final Verdict: How DREAM Is The Biggest Drop Of The Year

Today, in music, “biggest” is more than just a digital number. It is a rich phrase describing the mix: mainstream press attention, cross-market casting, platform-wide memeability, emotional cultural impact, and the creative content fans get to remix themselves. Enter LISA’s DREAM: a short film that had all the tears, takes, and reaction videos it inspired for days on end. This is the confluence of those things, and it is what makes this drop feel less like a moment in 2025’s music release ecosystem than a cultural event.