ATEEZ: ‘Limitless’

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’m just going to say from the beginning that this is going to be my new summer song. ATEEZ is just so incredibly good at creating sweeping epic songs that inspire hope. I know that Mingi said that this was probably his favorite of their Japanese releases. For me, it would be really difficult to choose! ‘Dreamers’ and ‘The King’ are also way up there for me! But I have absolutely been listening to this on repeat and I haven’t had my fill of it yet! On top of that, this concept was impeccable. I was excited from the moment that they released promotional photos that featured fencing in them. But I don’t think any of us knew even with those what the scope of this concept was. And let me tell you, they absolutely knew what they were doing. With all of that, I’m just going to get into this new amazing song and the MV that gave Atiny a collective heart attack.

‘Limitless’:

My first reaction when I heard this is that it sounded like an epic anime opening. This makes sense considering ATEEZ has been absolutely obliterating the game when it comes to OSTs lately. So much so that they’ve earned the nickname “the powerhouse of OSTs” specifically in Japan. But this was that and so much more. Firstly, I want to call out Mingi and Hongjoong for writing their raps to be so catchy that they constantly get stuck in my head. The vocals here were also absolutely amazing. San blew me away with the range that he displays in this one. Jongho and Wooyoung did a great job blowing that chorus out of the water too. And overall it feels like all of the vocalists get their time to shine at some point or another. It’s a song that feels set up to lift your spirits and I think part of that is what’s giving me summery vibes here. I could see myself blasting this on the way to the beach. In that way it joins the ranks of songs like ‘Wave’, ‘Stay’, ‘Illusion’, and ‘Sunrise’.

‘DIAMOND’:

I think a lot of people were expecting a full version of the ‘Diamond’ song by Sparkling from ‘Imitation’ when this was first announced. Which would have been hilarious. The boys have all absolutely embraced the memeing of that song and I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised at them releasing a full version for fun. But that’s not what this is. What this is instead is a simultaneously gorgeous and comforting song. They really pulled out all the reassuring stops with this one, including lyrics that have offers to cuddle. Yes, please! But in all seriousness, I did tear up when I first read these lyrics. ATEEZ is where I go for comfort when I need it and this was them acknowledging that they are a comfort to so many people and embracing it. I know that there’s a burden that comes with that and I’m so grateful to them for just being there for Atiny!

MV:

Again, they absolutely knew what they were doing when they shot this. The MV starts out depicting all of them working out ‘ROCKY’ style in gym attire. They decided to put Mingi in a compression top and a good chunk of the other members go sleeveless. Tell me again how any Atiny survived this MV? Yeosang’s arms are probably as big as my head at this point. This isn’t even fair! I also loved how they divided up who did what in the last part of the MV. We have Mingi and Seonghwa (who looks almost vampiric) face off in fencing as well as San and Wooyoung. On the other had we had the four who trained in archery for the Idol Olympics take on archery once again. I absolutely loved seeing Yunho take up archery again, especially knowing that he probably took it so seriously. I also loved that all of them got a victory moment, even if they were pitted against each other in fencing. Though we know that the majority of ATEEZ is absolutely amazing at anything athletic. They did place really high in the Idol Olympics after all! And I thought all of them in all black was just as attractive as all of them in gym gear. Just in general, this MV was made to completely wipe out Atiny and I’d say they succeeded.

‘Tower of Truth’:

They’ve been advertising for this interview all week and it just came out today. It was the first thing that I watched this morning because I couldn’t wait to see it! I think this has to be one of my absolute favorite ATEEZ interviews that I’ve ever seen. Not only are ATEEZ way too good at games in general, but the editors here really seemed to embrace and understand ATEEZ’s sense of humor. In one segment, Mingi was asked which of them would survive the longest in a zombie apocalypse. Mingi said himself, which the other members immediately began protesting against. In order to prove himself he was tasked to go against Yunho, who immediately began acting like a zombie complete with the editors giving him a horror movie vibe. Mingi instead threw Yeosang at Yunho who faked biting him; poor Yeosang! There was also a moment where Yeosang went after Wooyoung which included a panicked Mom Seonghwa yelling at him not to hit Wooyoung with the giant jenga pieces. But they were way too good at that game. They could have kept going forever. Though to be fair, there was a moment when the tower fell and all of them somehow caught it and righted it again. I love seeing ATEEZ participate in interviews like this because it just seems to fit them all so well! They always look like they’re having the best time. I also want to point out how advanced all of their English was here. It was insane! They’re all so amazing at it and Hongjoong is fluent at this point! Just go watch this interview if you haven’t already. It legitimately made my day!

‘Idol Radio’:

If you haven’t seen it yet, Yunho and Hongjoong came back to ‘Idol Radio’ with an episode entitled ‘Old Friends’. The entire episode this time was about the friendships between Hongjoong and Seonghwa, and Yunho and Mingi respectively. The four seemed to have a great time reminiscing on days as trainees while they played games designed to test the true strength of their friendships. My favorite of these games was probably the ‘I Love You’ game where the two pairs went one at a time to stand on the opposite end of an amount of space with their eyes closed and said “I love you” while they took a step towards the other. The space wasn’t that big so they inevitably bumped into each other and started blushing and laughing. It’s the most wholesome episode since the episode where just Yunho and Hongjoong interviewed each other and did their own reminiscing. I loved how Hongjoong and Seonghwa acted a little more like an old married couple, where Yunho and Mingi were a lot more giggly and prone to blushing. Though let’s be honest, Seonghwa has been known to successfully embarrass Hongjoong in the past. I also loved how when Mingi expressed that he didn’t think he was the best in the group at anything, Yunho had the audience yell out things to Mingi that he absolutely is amazing at. Mingi deserves the biggest hug!

Atiny have been spoiled lately with the amount of ATEEZ content we’ve been getting. Between the interviews and the new releases, there’s been plenty almost every single day! I hope that they get all the rest they need to recover from the tour and I absolutely hope that they have so much fun at their last show! I know Hongjoong has been campaigning to allow the fans more recording freedom during the last concert, so I’m sure we’ll have so many good quality videos. Let’s all look forward to it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie