NewJeans Powerpuff Girls music video is ’90s perfection

NewJeans’ K-pop outfit, The Powerpuff Girls has never looked better.

The globally successful and breakout girl group released a music video titled “New Jeans.” In it, the members of the group transform into animated character versions of themselves designed to look like The Powerpuff Girls. The girl group is transformed over the course of this video into Powerpuff Girls. They go from being 2D characters to becoming pixelated video game characters. The video is an absolute joy as it pairs easy pop listening with an aesthetic that celebrates the colorful joy of ’90s animation and the early console era of video games.

NewJeans is composed of Minji and Hanni. Haerin, Danielle and Hyein are also members. NewJeans was created by ADOR, the label under Hybe, and debuted in July 2022 with the single “Attention.” The group has had a limited number of releases since their debut — NewJeans has released a single EP and a handful of tracks — but that hasn’t stopped their rise to become one of the most prominent K-pop groups in the world. Billboard reported that the group had the fastest Kpop band to reach 1 billion Spotify streams in less than 219 days.

Fans have been waiting with bated breath for the second EP. Take Off.The group posted a teaser video and audio of the Powerpuff Girl EP on June 18. Thousands of Powerpuff Girl fans shared the clip online. One fan created a filter called “powerpuff me” where fans could make their Powerpuff Girl personas and it was used over 628 hundred thousand times at the time of publication.

This video is in line with trends that are resurging Y2K fashion and media. The music video gives cozy “hanging out with the girlies” vibes and pairs it with a variety of nostalgic digital aesthetics. In a matter of minutes, the girls are transformed into cartoons and later take on video game-inspired forms like retro pixelated graphics and polygonal 3D graphics that resemble early PlayStation games.

It leaves me only with one very important question. When are we going to get the NewJeans videogame?