Marvel: ‘Hawkeye’ Episodes 3 and 4

Screenshot of Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton and Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop in ‘Hawkeye’. Copyright goes to Disney and Marvel Studios.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I know this is probably just a little on the odd side considering that my sister started this series review, but I have absolutely fallen in love with this series. So far, it is definitely my favorite Marvel series (and series in general) to come to Disney+ since the release of ‘WandaVision’. It’s just the right amount of lighthearted and action-packed and I already love the bonding between Clint and Kate. And Kate Bishop is one of my favorite characters I’ve seen in anything in a while. While the first two episodes were mostly just lighthearted fun, it’s the last two episodes that really picked up the story and the action. And though I was definitely a fan of all the lighthearted fun, it is definitely interesting to see all the characters in a more serious light where it feels like the stakes are a little bit higher. To be completely frank, I don’t have anything very negative to say about these last couple episodes, so I’m just going to talk about my reactions and theories with everything going on. As always, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!!!

Episode 3:

Kate Bishop- As always, I freaking love Kate. Her sarcasm and more lighthearted attitude is amazing. But the way she acted towards Clint in this episode was absolutely my favorite part. I loved when she was firing the trick arrows while Clint was driving and her quips throughout that scene. But the standout moment for Kate for this episode had to be when Clint couldn’t hear during the conversation with his son and Kate helped him by writing out what his son was saying. This was such a heartwarming bonding moment between the two and one that I was very happy to see. Their bonding is paced well in that it’s gradual, but it’s always adorable and I like the way that it’s building up.

Clint Barton- I think it was very important to explore Clint’s hearing after they established the use of his hearing aid and that he is now learning sign language. Having Echo break his hearing aid was a brilliant choice and explored a lot of what I was really looking forward to them exploring! I love the miscommunication with him and Kate both in the car and later when they were in the train. Them having the same thoughts about walking Pizza Dog and not being able to communicate them was one of the funniest bits in the entire episode! And we’re starting to see just how desperate he is to get back to his family here. My heart broke when he started crying after talking with Nate. I’m definitely here for some more Clint and Kate bonding time though!

Echo- I already absolutely love the character of Echo and what we’ve gotten from her so far. I think representation like this in any media is incredibly important and it makes me so happy to see it. Echo is the most badass antagonist I’ve seen in Marvel in a long time and her combat skills could even rival Natasha Romanoff. Her breaking Clint’s hearing aid was a brilliant move for her character as well as Clint’s because of her own beliefs about hearing aids and I loved how smart she was for doing it. But most of all I really liked delving into her backstory. I have a feeling that the person who killed her father was not Clint based off of how little we saw. We saw someone in a hood, but we didn’t even get close enough to see if that was the Ronin costume, and knowing that Jack is ‘The Swordsman’ from the comics is enough to put some speculation on him. There’s also that mysterious uncle of hers who seems likely to actually be Kingpin, but I guess we’ll have to see as this goes on.

Episode 4:

Kate Bishop- This had to be one of my favorite episodes of Hawkeye so far and it definitely picked up more than the last episodes. But, once again, my favorite part of this had to be the bonding between Kate and Clint. When Kate’s mother starts talking about wanting to be around her family at Christmas, Kate immediately thinks of how miserable Clint must be. What follows is one of the cutest montages of a Christmas celebration night that I have ever seen in anything ever. Kate decides to bring pizza and Christmas movies, accidentally writes on a picture with permanent marker, and Clint teaches her how to knock someone out with an ornament. The most wholesome Christmas themed episode I have ever seen. I also loved to see Kate get more badass scenes in the rest of the episode. This was the first time we really got to see Kate and Clint completely fight together in a hand to hand combat situation, and I love to see that Kate can really take care of herself. Clint did try and send Kate away at the end, but let’s be real, we all know she isn’t going anywhere. And I loved that Kate figured out that Clint was Ronin without him even having to tell her. She’s incredibly smart and I love it!

Clint Barton- Clint really had a difficult time this episode reminiscing on Natasha and other things. We know that Clint is still scarred by Natasha’s death, but seeing Kate fall off the side of the roof really brought things back for him. Not only that, but we got to hear Clint talk about what he thinks of his past, and we learned that he views himself exactly as Natasha viewed herself. Clint believes that his only job has been to hurt other people and the only reason why he’s viewed as a good guy was because the right people got a hold of him and aimed him at the right enemies. He even calls himself a weapon. But the thing that interested me even more about his past was the Rolex and what it might mean for Laura. If anything, this show proves that Laura Barton is much more capable than any past appearances have made her out to be. Laura, when speaking to Clint, starts speaking in German and also gives Clint the location of the mysterious watch. When Kate asks what the watch is for, Clint tells her that the watch could give up the identity of someone who has been out of the game for a while who is also a very close friend. He even sounds pretty terrified when relaying this information. I can’t help but think that this has something to do with Laura herself. I would love to see more of what Laura was up to before we met her and how she and Clint met. I honestly kind of hope that the watch is tied to Laura.

Kate’s Mom- There was something very suspicious about her this episode particularly. She’s always been suspicious, but I think we’re starting to see more of it. Like the fact that when she was seeing Clint out of the house, she asked Clint to let go of the case he and Kate are working on entirely rather than just asking him to not involve Kate in it. And then there was that shady call that I think might have had to do with how Yelena was able to find Clint and Kate at at the end of the episode. But that’s just me theorizing. With how secretive she is, she could turn out to be even more shady than Jack. I hope Kate at least goes back to Clint’s family with Clint at the end of this if her Mom ends up being as much of an antagonist as I think she’s going to be.

Jack- He’s just plain creepy. And what was with the random dancing and kissing in front of Kate? Gross. But, more importantly, we learned that Jack is actually working directly with the Track Suit Mafia. Is anyone really surprised? Probably not.

Echo- We didn’t get much of her this episode except the kicking ass part. I loved that she was the first to recover from the sonic arrow. But she did leave pretty early on in the fight. And she’s also keeping tabs on Clint’s entire family, which seems like a dick move to me.

Yelena- Yelena finally arrived this episode! She’s here to do what she said she would in the end credits scene for ‘Black Widow’. Take out Clint. And she definitely unsettles him. It’s unclear whether or not Clint knows what her relationship to Natasha was, but he definitely does know that she’s a Black Widow assassin and he’s very shaken by this. In all fairness, he could have gotten this information simply by her weaponry and that’s what I’m assuming for now. We’ll have to see what happens when he figures out that she’s Natasha’s sister. We also saw a mirroring moment with Kate and Yelena and Clint and Natasha. Earlier in the episode Clint talks about the shot he never took; the time he couldn’t take out Natasha. Clint somehow could feel that she was a good person and wanted out, so he didn’t take her out. This time we got to see Kate look at Yelena as she was about to get a clean hit and then lower her bow. Probably because she felt the same thing that Clint did. It was an adorable moment and I loved its inclusion. I can’t wait to see the bonding between the new Hawkeye and Black Widow as the new MCU goes forward.

And that’s it! I love having a lighthearted Marvel show about mentorship and bonding every week. It just makes me so happy! And I’ve always loved the glimpses of Clint’s caring nature we’ve gotten in the movies, so I’m so happy to see all of that more fleshed out. And most of all, I absolutely love Kate Bishop. She’s everything I’ve always wanted in a female superhero character and also relatable as hell. She’s a joy to watch every week! I can already tell that this show is going to become a comfort watch for me. I’ve already watched every episode that’s already out twice! It’s not even over and I can tell you that it’s re-watchable. I can’t wait for the next couple episodes to see how it ends! And then I’ll continue to rewatch!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

ATEEZ: News and Controversy

Promotional image of Jeong Yunho, Park Seonghwa, Choi San, Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho, and Song Mingi for “Deja Vu”. Copyright goes to ATEEZ and KQ Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

ATEEZ has a lot of releases and performances coming up in just the next few months. Between album releases, multiple music videos, and a full concert tour, they’ll definitely be busy for a while. And even with some of these not having occurred yet, most of them have already made news. You’ll definitely see posts about some of the upcoming performances and their newest comeback in the future, but for now I’ll go over what we know so far. All we really have right now is the excellent “Turbulence” music video that I’ll get into in a second. There’s also a lot of mixed news in regards to their tour which I will try my best not to be too negative about addressing. So let’s look at ATEEZ’s crazy schedule!

‘ZERO: FEVER EPILOGUE’:

First I’m going into the song, and music video, that was already released! “Turbulence” is a slower piece than you would expect from a leading song on their newest comeback album, but don’t let that chase you away. This ballad is incredible and has such an important message behind it that I become emotional every time I listen to it. The song is about trying to find your place in life, a concept I’ve been struggling with a lot lately. It describes how impatience to find a purpose can turn quickly into feelings of depression and anxiety. It even describes how frightening it can be to wander without knowing which direction is the right one. The chorus asks what we should all aim to be in the future when it’s so difficult to just be yourself most days. But at the end of the song, ATEEZ encourages the listener to strive only for being true to yourself and assures us that it’s alright to appreciate where you are right now so long as you’re still pushing forward. Many people can relate to the feelings expressed here, especially with the state of the world as it has been. I definitely have been feeling lost and aimless lately, which made this song feel like it came at the perfect time. All of the members have their own moments to shine here as well. ATEEZ is getting better and better at making sure all eight members get plenty of time. Jongho’s voice stands out quite a bit in the chorus, as it always does, but all of the vocal line show off the strength and emotion in their voices throughout. Meanwhile Mingi and Hongjoong’s verses are rhythmic and soft, and both even sing at parts of the song. The music video is tastefully angsty, with the members separated into different locations, mostly around a city. The muted colors and hazy lights feel both sad and wistful at the same time. I also really liked the use of cozier outfits in this video, including warm jackets and sweatshirts, to make the whole thing feel more personal. “Turbulence” already ensures that this new comeback is going to be incredible.

So what else is on the album? Fortunately, we already have the entire tracklist available to look at. After “Turbulence” we have two more new songs, “Be With You” and “The Letter”. Then we’ll be getting the Korean versions of “Still Here” and “Better”. The rest of the album is mostly songs we all heard on the competition show ‘Kingdom’. These songs are “The Real”, “Wave (Overture)”, “WONDERLAND (Symphony No.9 “From The Wonderland”)”, and “Answer (Ode to Joy) (Feat. LA POEM)”. The last track on the album will be “Outro: Over the Horizon”. I’m excited to hear the new songs, but I’m also excited to be able to own some of the really amazing variations of their previous songs we heard on ‘Kingdom’. I’m also excited to see the music video for “The Real” that ATEEZ just teased earlier today! We’ll be sure to talk about that MV once it drops!

Concert Tour:

ATEEZ released the news a few months ago that starting January they’ll be going on a world tour. ‘The Fellowship: Beginning of the End’ will start out in Seoul and end in Madrid. ATEEZ will also be doing fan sign events in New York, LA, and Madrid during the tour. All their concert dates sold out in minutes, an incredible accomplishment not many acts can boast. As all ATINY are, I’m so proud of them! That said, there is some controversy surrounding both the concert and the fan meets. For one, the company did nothing to limit the amount of scalpers who could buy tickets to ATEEZ’s concerts. Doing a quick search online will reveal that scalpers got their hands on quite a lot of tickets for these concerts and are already selling them for much more than they’re worth. Many ATINY are frustrated and upset that no tickets are available to them aside from insanely overpriced resale tickets. As for the fan meets, you must enter into a raffle by purchasing ATEEZ’s album to see if you can attend. However, the album is much more expensive than past albums have been, especially where shipping is concerned. This is outpricing a lot of ATINY, especially those who want to enter into the raffle more than once. While this is extremely frustrating for all of us, be sure not to direct your anger at the members. They have nothing to do with these decisions. Plainly put, KQ needs to get better at organizing events like this and they need to catch up to all of the other K-Pop companies who have already come up with safeguards against scalpers. Even with those things in mind, though, ATEEZ did succeed in selling out all of their concerts. Scalpers wouldn’t have been so interested if there wasn’t so much demand. So let’s all keep being incredibly proud of ATEEZ for continuously building up their popularity!

Christmas Performance:

This is something to look forward to, but unfortunately those of us who live outside of Korea won’t be able to see this performance until Christmas day. ATEEZ appeared on the show ‘Immortal Songs’ where they performed three songs we can look forward to. “The Real”, “FANTASTIC BABY” by BIGBANG, and “Nillili Mambo” by Block B. For those who don’t know, Block B in particular has always been a major influence on ATEEZ that you can hear in both the style of their songs and see in some of their pirate concepts. While I love all of these songs and can’t wait to see their performances of all three, “Nillili Mambo” is one of the best K-Pop songs I’ve ever heard and it’s one many ATINYs have wanted ATEEZ to cover for a long time. It’s so difficult to wait to see them perform this song when so many of us have been waiting for so long! I just want to see which members do which parts!

And that’s all of the news for right now! ATEEZ has so much going on to be excited about! They keep surprising me with each new release and performance. They’ve grown so much in such a short amount of time and I can’t wait to see what’s next for them! As for right now though, I hope all of their current projects go really well and that they’ll be able to take a break soon afterwards. Unlike BTS, it seems ATEEZ will be working through the holidays. I’m happy for them, but I hope they can also balance all of this excitement with self care.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

BTS: Happy Birthday WWH!

Promotional photo of Kim Seokjin for “Butter”. Copyright goes to the HYBE Corporation and BTS.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I am still very much not ok after that concert. Post concert depression is very real and all I want is to be back at a BTS concert! I literally sat down after the concert ended and just cried. I miss the boys so much already! And I could talk all about that or how much Namjoon absolutely wrecked me this concert. Because I was not prepared for that either. There’s also other news to talk about, like the release of clips from Monsta X’s new album which I can warn you now I probably won’t talk about at all. It’s not really my thing from what I heard. But of all of these things, the thing to really look at right now is Jin’s birthday. I could do a summary of some of his work, but I’ve already done that a couple times. So I’m just going to go over what happened this year for his birthday because that’s a lot of content to cover. Jin’s birthday this year was spectacular, especially because of the mix of BTS’s concert return and the brand new showcase that he released for his birthday. Let’s get into the amazing ways ARMY celebrated this amazing man this year!

The Concert:

The hype for Jin’s birthday was overwhelming even before my sister and I stepped into the venue a couple days ago. There were makeshift areas set up at all sides of the arena for the Moon Project for Jin. Many ARMYs had brought their own from home or were helping to assemble them. And other ARMYs were going up to every person standing in a line and passing out signs with Jin’s name on it in Hangul. Both of these were utilized at different parts of the show and many ARMYs who weren’t even part of the stations for these projects initially, helped in passing out materials for both projects. The concert started out with the signs with his name on it which Jungkook ended up pointing out to Jin. Jin already looked very happy with those signs, but the big project that had been planned for months was the Moon Project. This was the one that ARMYs used when we were all singing “Happy Birthday” to Jin. While the light effect did not go quite as many people had hoped, it did end up being something noticeable to Jin in the end. Jin towards the end of the concert noticed the moons and admitted to ARMYs at being choked up by the gesture. He also said that he had been expecting something from ARMY and thought it was gating rather late in the concert. BTS and staff also pitched in with pictures of Jin in pigtails from a previous concert day and a rainbow banner. Between BTS’s surprise for Jin and ARMY’s surprise, there was a lot of surprises going around the arena. And all of it was aimed at a very happy Jin. Jin also made ARMYs laugh later in the concert by wearing his BT21 character, RJ, on the back of his head and remarking that he felt embarrassed by the thing on his head because of his age. But he then said that he just did it for all of us, which was so cute! His remarks and the RJ on his head later proved to be a lightening of the air after we all sobbed at Namjoon’s speech that recounted many of our shared depression during quarantine. Namjoon hit the nail on the head and then Jin cheered us all up. Very much like them if you think about it. We also saw Jin having the time of his life at the concert for his birthday. Like jumping around with Namjoon or hugging Chris Martin from Coldplay. Their friendship has always been so wholesome. I also can’t express how handsome he looks up close. I definitely freaked out when all of them started moving around the arena on moving platforms that were right at my eye level! Jin was faced away from me and towards the floor seating crowd most of the time, but I still saw enough to tell you that that man glows. He’s gorgeous.

Celebrations After:

As usual, in South Korea there were blocks of Jin banners all around the HYBE building and a completely decorated cafe. But more than that, we also got Jin’s chaotic V-live with a more chaotic candle display than Namjoon’s. Jin lit one giant candle that then opened to smaller candles that played “Happy Birthday” on loop. There he talked about just how touched he was at the Moon Project from the concert and commended ARMY because the boxes were all handmade. He said it was one of the most touching moments of his life, which right away made me teary eyed. There was also a giant multi-layer cake for Jin at the Jingle Ball too. The cake was wheeled out onto the stage which elicited a loud “Wow” from Jin who cutely walked towards it in his large white reindeer antlers. The cake itself was adorable, intricately decorated, and even had the BTS logo on the top. Everyone was celebrating for Jin this year and I absolutely love it! He deserves every bit of it.

“Super Tuna”:

I think everyone knows about the song that’s only about a minute that Jin released. It has been called a cure for post concert depression by ARMY. With a music video set on a beach, the MV depicts nothing but Jin and two dancers doing choreography planned by BTS’s dance team designed after choreography that Jin had done in the past. Jin was too busy with the concert himself to make the dance, but he killed it! Jin took a good chunk of time on his birthday V-live to talk about the creation of “Super Tuna”. Jin noted that he had always wanted to make a song about fishing just as a joke (recently while he was visiting the US he went on a fishing trip), and he created the song with a friend. He was half expecting the song to never be made and said he would have been fine with that since it was a joke. The joke was taken rather seriously by everyone else involved though and the project just kept getting bigger. Jin felt that it was funny, though also very embarrassing, and this was only reflected by the fan reaction. ARMY made the song go viral and started the ‘Super Tuna Challenge’, which hilariously caused Jin to plead with fans on Weverse to stop the challenge twice. First Jin said that it was embarrassing and then he voiced his fear that the company would make him make a second song. I just want to thank all the ARMY that blew up this song, because though Jin is embarrassed, it is very nice to see Jin getting this much attention and love. And the song is a bop!

Jin as well as Jimin and Jungkook are now safely back in South Korea and HYBE has announced that BTS will be taking a well deserved and very much needed break after their busy LA schedule. We know that part of that is because once a person returns to South Korea they must enter two weeks of quarantine. Namjoon, Hobi, Yoongi, and Tae are still in LA for a little longer, though we don’t know how much longer they’ll be here or exactly why they waited behind. Many ARMYs have joked that they’re recording “Cypher Pt. 5′” which would be amazing if it were true. It’s more likely that it’s for safety reasons. But I’m glad that Jin is back and safe after so much celebration around his birthday. I’m glad that because of the concert we were all able to make it a big one for him this year!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Permission To Dance on Stage LA (Day 4)

Promotional poster for the Permission To Dance On Stage concert in LA featuring Kim Taehyung (V), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook, Min Yoongi (Suga), and Kim Namjoon (RM). Copyright goes to the Hybe Corporation and BTS.

Hey! Hallie here!

There’s so much to talk about today. For one, it’s Jin’s birthday! Happy birthday WWH! There’s also ATEEZ’s new MV and the news that BTS is performing in Seoul in 2022. But I attended the last day of the Permission to Dance LA concert and my brain has been completely stuck on that ever since I left SoFi Stadium. This concert was incredible. I had imagined on multiple occasions what it would be like to be part of the Purple Ocean, but nothing I’ve ever imagined could have lived up to how amazing the experience really was. I have so much to talk about and get emotional over, so let’s get into this!

First Set:

Before I start with the first song, I do want to mention how great the MVs were before the concert. BTS usually plays all of their music videos up to their most recent one leading up to the start of the concert. It was so fun to sing along and scream along with the rest of ARMY before the concert even started. And the excitement that built from just the ARMY Bombs turning on for the “Permission to Dance” music video was incredible. After that we got our opening VCR, which was essentially the prison concept we saw in the “Butter” music video. That led us into the members’ entry to the stage. Starting out the concert behind prison bars was such a power move. They immediately started performing “On”, one of the most perfect opening songs of all time. It was at this point it finally hit me that I was in the same room as BTS and I lost my mind a little bit. From what I did register though, those white outfits were incredible and the glasses on J-Hope took his outfit to an entirely different level. As usual, the choreography was also on point and looked even better with the amount of backup dancers they had with them. From there they transitioned into “Fire”. It was pretty cold the night of the concert so we all felt that song was particularly important for the night, particularly because the stage was literally on fire. It also struck me during this song that Yoongi goes incredibly hard on all of his verses in concert. To end this huge opening piece we got our first major audience interaction song, “Dope”. Hoseok and Namjoon in particular spent a lot of time on the side of the stage facing me and I adored every second. Once “Dope” ended opening remarks were made. Jimin and Namjoon started out the night with hilarity when Namjoon yelled at Jimin to grow up and find his heart on his own while he rifled through his clothes looking for it. Meanwhile, I was still shell-shocked that I got to join Hobi’s trademark call and response. Jin also got to see the birthday signs some ARMY handed out for the concert! Afterwards the boys riled up the audience with a performance of “DNA” (Jimin’s finger heart mid-song was adorable) before leaving us to the next VCR.

Second Set:

I won’t spend a ton of time on these VCR’s because there wasn’t much of a story. There was a lot of the members jumping around and partying, and some fun strange moments in the middle like a momentary secret agent plot and a creepy man scolding the boys for being too loud (Based on the crowd response I was very much not alone in being unsettled), but no major story. I did appreciate the time to catch my breath, though. “Blue and Grey” exceeded my expectations. The members faced away from the audience, which is unusual for a show, but they faced mirrors where pre-recorded versions of them looked back with such slight differences, you couldn’t decide if they were reflections or not. That was, until the members turned around to walk out to the audience at the end of the song with their reflections staring after them. Meanwhile, the ARMY Bombs turned off for the song, leading ARMYs to turn on their phone flashlights. The members appreciated it very much, so I thank whichever ARMY started that on day 3 of the concert. “Black Swan” was one of my favorite songs of the night. The opening of the song is incredible. Backup dancers formed a swarm in the middle of the stage to hide all of the members while each came up individually, taking their place in the center. The backup dancers did an incredible job configuring themselves into wings, and the flapping and unfurling effects blew me away. I especially appreciated how seamless the transition between each member was. And, as usual, the choreography with just the seven of them left me speechless. Here the members did an audience check in and cooled off a little bit before jumping right into “Blood Sweat and Tears”. They didn’t do much of this song, but I love this song so much and really appreciated seeing it live. “Fake Love” was where most of the emphasis was put, and for good reason. The fan chant was never louder than it was during this song. You’ve also probably seen this going around already, but Jungkook’s button had trouble holding itself together during “Fake Love”. Many ARMYs are very thankful for this button.

Third and Fourth Set:

Next we had my favorite on-stage set pieces. The members came out on a giant bed to sing “Life Goes On”. I really enjoyed the on-screen effects during this song as well. As the song continued, the screen filled up with pictures taken in real time. The members prepared for this with mostly adorable or funny poses, making the whole thing very wholesome. For the next song, “Boy With Luv”, the members had already transitioned over to the giant couch set piece. They used this song for more really fun audience interaction. Yoongi also had trouble sitting on this couch which, sorry Yoongi, was hilarious. From there Jin played the hype man and used his power of being unfairly cute to prepare ARMYs for “Dynamite”. As this concert was in LA, the audience was probably loudest singing along to both “Dynamite and “Butter”, which were performed together. Taehyung stood out during “Dynamite” simply for his sunglasses, meanwhile Hoseok floored me during “Butter” when the camera focused on him during the dance break into the song. The crowd went wild at his smirk, and I was definitely with them. After a break they came back with a mash up of “Airplane pt 2” and “Baepsae”, both of which I adored, before giving it over to Hobi to start “Disease”. I love that “Disease” has been a staple of the last few concerts because it does an incredible job of showing off the talents of all of the members. During “Telepathy” the members separated onto vehicles to move around the venue. I was on the first floor stadium seating, so I was right at eye level with them as they went around and I just about died. This was also the first time I could fully see all of the boys’ facial features and yes, they are all gorgeous in person. (Also, Jungkook caught a flower in midair. How?)

They came back to the stage to sing “Stay”, which got the audience excited enough to go right into “So What”. “So What” is fun at every single concert, and the smoke machine guns the members got to play with ensured that. Although, Namjoon decided to stick with soaking the audience with his water bottle instead. Meanwhile, Jin was an absolute menace. He blasted Taehyung right in the face at one point, and at yet another portion of the song he and Jungkook cornered Jimin on the floor. Everyone was laughing for most of the song. Another check in lead into “I NEED U”, which received some of the loudest screams of the night. “I NEED U” is such a good song with amazing choreography, and the fact that it’s one of their older songs makes it exciting to hear it after so many years. “Save ME” came next. Jungkook’s voice always floors me during “Save ME”. Half of the members spent this song making fun of Jimin as well. It happens every time and it’s always hilarious. This set ended with “IDOL”. I never felt more powerful than I did singing along with “IDOL”. Hearing so many ARMYs sing “You can’t stop me loving myself” around the entire arena reminded me exactly how powerful BTS’s message is. The experience of joining in during this song made me so appreciative of BTS.

Encore:

These songs were all different for day 4 of the concert. The encore started with “HOME”. I never expected to hear “HOME” live, so hearing “HOME” alone was enough to start getting me emotional. But then BTS had to pull out “Mikrokosmos”. “Mikrokosmos” makes me very emotional every time I listen to it. It’s been so inspirational to me and I always pictured that song in particular whenever I thought of joining the Purple Ocean. I didn’t expect it to be part of this concert at all, which is probably why I started crying the moment it started. I wasn’t the only one either. Plenty of the ARMYs beside me were crying too, and Taehyung was visibly emotional during the song. However, ARMYs were quick to cheer up in anticipation of what came next. The members requested a wave, which we delivered on though we had a bit of trouble matching the wave between levels of the arena. And then we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Jin! At this point all of the ARMYs who knew about the Jin project put their moon boxes over their ARMY Bombs in honor of his song “Moon”. The effect didn’t translate as well as I might have liked, but the ARMYs who were participating close to the stage made it so that he was able to fully appreciate the effect. He confessed to tearing up at the gift, though he also jokingly confessed to expecting something grand from ARMY. His cheeriness made me feel slightly less sad to be going into closing statements.

Most of the members were crying. Hoseok managed to keep himself together during his heartfelt thank you’s, though he had to pause in the middle and had to take a minute to himself afterwards. Jimin talked at length about his hopes and fears for the future, which I think many ARMYs share. He was very grateful though, and he managed to keep himself together. Namjoon ensured there wasn’t a dry eye in the arena. He talked about his struggles with depression over quarantine, something many of us can relate to, and how healing it was to return to performing. When he began to cry, ARMYs did as well. Jungkook showed off his amazing progress in English while expressing his desire to meet again soon. Jin cheered all of us up slightly by frequently referring to the RJ precariously positioned on his head. Yoongi then took over to tell the future, claiming that BTS would have more live performances and hopefully a world tour soon, only to have the Seoul concert announced a few hours later. Lastly, Taehyung ended it crying, unable to use the English phrases he had prepared but still hopeful that they’d be able to see ARMY again very soon. It was all so emotional that going into “Permission to Dance” was almost jarring. But I’m so grateful that the members are so open with ARMY and so clearly love us just as much as we love them. Just as they expressed their thanks for the night, I really can’t thank them enough for the night they gave all the ARMYs watching. “Permission to Dance” was a nice way to end the concert. It’s light and so fun to dance along to that you almost forget the concert’s coming to a close. But the concert didn’t come to a close. Because then Chris Martin from Coldplay ran out on stage and “My Universe” started. The scream I let out was a bit undignified, but I really didn’t feel alone in that regard. Seeing the eight of them perform together was so heartwarming. Chris Martin and Jin in particular spent a lot of time holding hands and dancing together. It was such a beautiful way to surprise ARMY and leave us all happy for their final exit from the stage.

Now that I’ve been to a BTS concert I can wholeheartedly confirm what Yoongi says. Once you go to a BTS concert, no other concert compares. Between the effects, the dancing, the singing, the rapping, and the audience interaction, I can’t believe how perfectly epic this concert was. I’ve honestly been a bit sad ever sense I left the stadium. Also, to those who were blaming baby ARMYs for not screaming or chanting loud enough, my experience with all ARMYs at the venue, baby or not, was loud support and a very clear love for BTS. Every type of ARMY at the concert deserved to be there and we all enjoyed our time at the concert. BTS concerts have become a place of love and acceptance. Sometimes I feel ARMYs need a reminder of that. But, either way, I loved my time at the concert and I can’t wait to tune into the replay on Saturday to see everything I missed! Thank you BTS!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: Everglow ‘Return of the Girl’

Promotional photo of (from left) Heo Yoorim (Aisha), Jo Serim (Onda), Han Eunji (Mia), Wang Yiren (Yiren), Park Jiwon (E:U), and Kim Sihyeon (Sihyeon). Copyright goes to Yuehua Entertainment and Everglow.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Tomorrow is the final day of the BTS concert, and the first one for me! Yep, my sister and I will be there tomorrow! And I have been hyped this entire week, but I also have nothing to talk about regarding BTS since I’ve been trying to keep well away from spoilers. And also, I want to be positive going into it and there are some ARMYs who have been really making me angry. Going after other ARMYs or using the term ‘Baby ARMY’ as a bad thing just because some people don’t know the fan chants or because you can’t hear the fan chants is absolutely atrocious. We’re there to have fun, not put pressure on other people. Especially not after the year we just had. So, in the interest of not absolutely blowing up before the concert, I decided to focus on something positive for my night before concert post. Because yesterday one of my favorite K-Pop groups that deserves more recognition dropped an amazing mini album. Seriously, so many groups have comebacks planned for the next couple months and I am loving it! And while I was more of a fan of their last single, “FIRST”, more than this mini album, I really loved this one too! I feel like there’s so much to talk about here, so I’m going to actually get into it!

Pirate:

The title song of the album. To be completely honest, I was not sold at the teaser for this song that dropped a few days ago. The chorus felt cheesy and overly repetitive to me. I really needed to hear the chorus in the context of the song and I needed to listen to the song a few times before it all settled with me. This wasn’t a song like ATEEZ’s “Deja Vu” where I heard it once and was immediately in love with it. But this song did grow on me after every time I listened to it. Though I still do have some problems with the song. My sister and I listened to the song completely separately and both came back with the exact same initial feedback, which was that the song didn’t feel consistent. There’s the beat drop chorus that features the actual use of the word “pirate”, which feels like a completely different song from the “girls all over the world” portion which has more of the feel of a lighthearted power ballad. As always, I love the messages of their songs. They are one of the major female groups that consistently covers the topic of girl power, and their message that girls can be anything goes right up there with their other inspiration messages towards women in past songs. And while the song does come together more and get more understandable the more you listen to it, there still is that slight tonal discrepancy that doesn’t quite go away. But damn, I have never seen them give Aisha this much to work with. As always Mia and Sihyeon kill all the major vocal parts and Yiren and Onda still don’t seem to be getting too much. But I am surprised how much E:U and Aisha have switched in regards to lines in their singles. E:U really didn’t get much, and Aisha got a massive amount of lines here. I’ve noticed that ever since Sihyeon was made leader, E:U has been getting less focus and I wonder if that’s just coincidence.

Pirate MV:

I always love Everglow’s MVs for subverting the stereotypical girl group concept every single time they come out with an album. Instead of doing a more modern Ariana Grande concept or an overly girly-girl feeling one, they always do something insane. Lately they’ve been going for more sci-fi related concepts and I love them! Instead of doing any of the regular stuff, they spend this video on motorcycles in sci-fi landscapes, doing complicated choreography in all black, and messing around with medieval swords. You know, everything I could possibly want in an MV! Hell yeah, I want to see women with medieval swords in a sci-fi concept! Did they peek at my Christmas list? Anyways, as well as Aisha being given a major chunk of lines for the song, they also had her center for much of the video. I love to see a concept with Aisha center! Of course, Yiren was also centered for much of it and Mia got her own dance moments. We’re still not seeing much dance focus on Onda, which is a shame. But we haven’t seen many of the on-stage performances of this yet and their most prominent one was actually recently pushed back. From what we have seen, it doesn’t look much changed. But they all looked badass in this MV nonetheless. I love Onda’s orange hair in pigtails, Mia’s diamond sci-fi eyepatch was badass and a moment, Aisha on a motorcycle is a power move, Siheyon is always as graceful as her vocals and was giving woman president vibes holding that flag, E:U in that white dress with a bow and arrow is everything I’ve always wanted to be, and Yiren looked elegant in that giant pink dress! The girls were amazing, as usual.

Back Together:

This is the first song on the album, even though this isn’t the promoted single for the album. And there’s a good reason for this. The song is a heartfelt slow ballad about getting back together after everything that’s happened. It’s the welcoming song on the album because it feels like a hug from the girls rejoicing that in some way we can share this space again. This song is beautiful, touching, and hopeful and better than any other way they could have opened their album. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t flaws. Most of the flaws come from line distribution, as usual. Yiren, Onda, and E:U get maybe one line each in this song. This is mostly sung by Sihyeon and Mia with actually quite a lot of lines for Aisha as well. But it feels like this song was only sung by half the group, and that’s because it kind of was. I usually don’t try to point out line distribution as much as I used to, because the freak outs over BTS have gotten way too much and most other groups have actually been getting better at it. But Everglow is not a well established group quite yet and they still struggle from some extremely uneven line distribution. If it wasn’t this extreme, I wouldn’t be mentioning it. Yuehua Entertainment said a while ago that they were going to work more with Yiren and Onda on vocals. But if they have, they aren’t given enough lines in songs to show it. And, as I said before, E:U has been pushed into the background more and more lately. Mia, Sihyeon, and Aisha are amazing all-rounders and complete power houses. They are some of the strongest singers/rappers in the industry in my opinion right now. But it shouldn’t feel like they are the only three people in a six person group.

Don’t Speak:

This song is adorable and possibly my favorite song on the entire album. This is also the other song on this mini album that they’ve started doing actual performances for. And it’s super cute. This is also one of the most surprising on the album in terms of line distribution. Onda actually gets quite a bit in this song and Yiren gets some stuff too! E:U gets the least, but usually she gets more than Yiren and Onda. Still, it isn’t much. But this is one of the songs on the album with the most in the way of even line distribution. When it comes to performance for this song, both Yiren and Sihyeon are focused on most for the dance portion. Mia is also focused on a bit. But you don’t often see Sihyeon get this much when it comes to choreography and she killed it! Can I also say how much Mia’s lower register killed me in this song? The choreography is both adorable and has some hilarious interactions between the girls mixed in. I loved watching their performance and I love the sound of the song. But the message of the song here isn’t my favorite. It’s about falling for a bad boy type and though it’s pretty innocent, sometimes I get a little tired of the romanticizing of “bad boys”. But this song is so cute!!!

Nighty Night:

This is another one that took me a few listens to like, but I do really like it now! The chorus is addicting, as it switched between Mia and Aisha and Aisha’s sweeter vocals really solidify it as an ear worm. This song is one of their ones where most of the lines went to Mia. And I’m already seeing comments complaining about how many lines Mia gets and attacking Mia again. And I’m really annoyed by this now and not here for it. If you actually look at line distribution for literally every other song on the album there’s a pretty even emphasis on Mia, Sihyeon, and Aisha throughout. It is not Mia’s fault that she is getting focused on, nor is it Sihyeon or Aisha’s faults. They don’t decide line distribution anyways. We’re just not getting a lot for Onda, Yiren, and E:U. Onda and Yiren do get a couple lines each in this song, but E:U doesn’t even get a full line. Besides all of that, I do like this song as well. It really has a badass feel to it and it’s already stuck in my head! There’s not really a message to this song, it’s just a fun sci-fi chase song lyrically. Which sounds confusing, but that’s what it is. It’s fun!

Company:

This has another badass theme with a pretty great message. The song addresses everything from how women are trapped in societies meant to hold them back to people only valuing celebrities for their status. This is another one that focuses on Mia, Sihyeon, and Aisha again where the other three don’t get much. Musically this song can get a bit too repetitive to me, but I still like it though it isn’t one of my favorites on the album. I immediately downloaded this entire mini album as soon as I listened to it because there’s not one song on this album that I didn’t think was good. And though I may have more to say about some of the other songs, this one is still a highlight to me!

So, I think I can sum up my general thoughts on this album pretty simply. Every song was a bop. Mia, Sihyeon, and Aisha absolutely killed it. And Yuehua needs to stop treating Yiren, Onda, and E:U like they aren’t part of the group. When people told them to stop giving so many lines to Mia, they didn’t mean that they only had to even up the lines with Sihyeon and Aisha. And I’m still really sick of people singling out Mia with all of this anyways. But right now it feels a bit like E:U, Yiren, and Onda are back-up singers. They seem to be trusting Yiren more with choreography, but not much else is happening. I understand that Onda and Yiren are still working on vocals, but I think they sound great. And E:U is an amazing rapper, so I don’t know why they keep pushing her back. I want this group to feel like it’s a group of six rather than feeling like it’s a group of three. All that aside though, this mini album and comeback are amazing! They all look so happy and there’s not one song on this album that I dislike! They prove to me once again why I love them so much with every comeback! If you haven’t checked this one out, I highly recommend it! Everglow does not disappoint! And now I will go back to hyperventilating over the BTS concert!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi/ Superheroes: ‘Cowboy Bebop’

Promotional image of Jet, Spike, Faye, Ed, and Ein from ‘Cowboy Bebop’. Copyright goes to Sunrise and Bandai.

Hey! Hallie here!

Plenty of people have already discussed the new Netflix live-action anime remake that was released a little over a week ago. But remaking an anime as infamous as ‘Cowboy Bebop’ begs plenty of attention, so I’m jumping in on this conversation as well. I’m not a long time fan of this series. I’m one of those people who was frequently told to watch ‘Cowboy Bebop’ by friends, but gave up on that goal when I couldn’t find it on any of the streaming services I can access. However, the promotional content for the live action remake caught my interest almost immediately, mainly because of the fun colors, cool costumes, and John Cho. So when I saw the original anime series drop on Netflix to help add to the hype of the new series, I realized I had no more excuses. I had to watch it. The series is really interesting and it’s very clear why so many people like it. The way it plays around with three very different genres and manages to blend them together seamlessly is ridiculously impressive. However, I wouldn’t say I’m now a huge fan of the series. So know going into this that this review is coming from someone who only recently watched the original and didn’t love it nearly as much as many others do. I’ll explain myself more later, but as for now, know that there will be SPOILERS ahead while I give my opinions on Netflix’s newest huge project.

What I Liked:

The Three Leads: I’ve seen various complaints hurled at all three of the main cast. I really have to say, I don’t agree with most of the critiques for these three. First off, John Cho is not too old to play Spike. I actually found him to be a pretty faithful adaptation of Spike. He’s aloof and cool with that hint of genuine empathy hidden behind it all. Plus a hilarious love of jumping into danger headfirst and leaving Jet exasperated. His dynamic with Jet doesn’t change at all either. Jet, as usual is the rational one in their friendship. Not to mention the fact that the real life ages of the actors have no bearing on the ages of the characters. Mustafa Shakir is an excellent Jet. I actually found him to be my favorite of the characters to watch. Jet’s storyline was never a major draw for me, but I felt that the focus on Jet was really well done and I enjoyed the added attachment to his daughter as well. Racism isn’t welcome here. I have some mixed feelings about Faye, but that isn’t Daniella Pineda’s fault. She plays an extremely badass Faye. I appreciated the avoidance of a lot of the more sexist parts of the original anime. Because, let’s be honest here, the character of Faye could get pretty sexist. She was the femme fatale, one of my least favorite female tropes to ever curse the screen for blatantly treating women like sexy objects. The moments where she’s meant to prove she’s more than the trope also don’t feel genuine when her breasts are abnormally large and half of Spike’s dialogue about her surrounds the “unreasonable” nature of women. None of this is present in the Faye of the series. My only complaint is that this series falls into the trap of avoiding femme fatale by writing out most of the feminine aspects of the character. Which doesn’t help things either. But overall, I feel this character took major strides the original didn’t.

The Atmosphere: This series does an excellent job of setting up the world of ‘Cowboy Bebop’. Every set feels like it came directly out of the anime and every new location is gorgeous to look at. Between the fun vibrant colors and the mix between Western streets and Sci-Fi establishments, it feels like a place you might actually want to visit. And the soundtrack. Yoko Kanno returns for this soundtrack and it’s just as addictive as it was in the original anime. I love how it contributes mostly to the Noir feel of the show. Say what you want about other aspects of the show, but it does a good job of creating the world anime fans came to love.

What I Disliked:

The Syndicate: The syndicate, and by extension Vicious, gets way too much time in the show. I didn’t really love Vicious in the original ‘Cowboy Bebop’. I couldn’t help but feel as though I had seen several villains like him before. But the show did an excellent job of making him seem intimidating by limiting his presence in the show. The remake feels like it returns to him every two seconds. He’s also not very fun to watch, and I feel like the fact that he’s still in a relationship with Julia drags both of their characters down. Most of the time it feels like Vicious is spending his screen time whining at her. Meanwhile, making her seem like she’s helpless to escape him isn’t the way I wanted Julia’s character to be expanded upon in this show. I wanted her epic escape and what she got up to afterwards. Not whatever this was. And yes, having her decide she wants to control the syndicate is cool. If the show had built up to that decision at all. But they didn’t, so I still left this show disappointed in her character. And please, I don’t ever want to hear the really silly names they came up with for everyone in the syndicate ever again. Fearless never happened. Can we move on?

The Side Characters: I found that a lot of the side characters were rewritten in mostly disappointing ways. The first character that comes to mind is Gren. Gren was horrendously written in the original anime. This was because their status as a nonbinary individual was made to be a freak accident rather than an actual exploration of what it’s like to be nonbinary. I really appreciated that they let go of that entire part of their plot, but in the process they also removed all of Gren’s plot relevance. They finally made Gren a better representation of nonbinary individuals only to push them aside. Katerina also comes to mind. One of the most tragic parts of the first episode of the original ‘Cowboy Bebop’ occurs when Katerina kills Asimov, realizing that she needs to end his tirade even though doing so will kill her and her dreams of living on Mars. In the new series, Asimov dies in a fight and Katerina cries over him before being killed, removing both most of her importance in the episode and the emotional weight she carries. This series really wanted to prove it was different from the original, but in doing so it mindlessly wrecked some of the plot points in the process.

I could also talk about how this series was too cartoony, but pretty much everyone has mentioned that and I don’t think it was the biggest problem here. I very much disliked their attempt at ‘Big Shot’, the bounty hunter show the main characters watch, but that was my biggest issue with the cartoony feel. As far as the Netflix series goes, I think it simply doesn’t capture what everyone liked about each episode of the original ‘Cowboy Bebop’. Every episode was short and full of stereotypes, but they also had a hidden brilliance that unfolded as each episode played out. There’s no well thought out brilliance hidden in the live acton remake’s episodes. Overall, I think Netflix just needs to stop adapting foreign shows for American audiences and just start promoting the original shows to American audiences instead. We could all benefit from watching and appreciating content from outside our country.

See You Space Cowboy,

Hallie

International Dramas: Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Screenshot of (left) Kim Seonho and (right) Shin Mina from ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’. Copyright goes to tvN and Studio Dragon.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’m back and currently avoiding any and all spoilers from the BTS concerts that will be happening in a few days! Which means I’m going to have to find more things to entertain me because Twitter and TikTok are full of spoilers. So that at least means that this drama review I promised you guys will be somewhat of a distraction for me! ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ is definitely one of the most popular K-Dramas out right now. And I finally got around to watching it! One thing I’ll say right off the bat is that this is full of escapism. If that’s what you’re looking for right now, go ahead and watch it. It takes place in a really cute and small seaside town with such an adorable community feel that you’ll never want to leave. Before I even get into this review, I will say that I liked the show. So if you are at all interested in watching this show, go watch it now because this review will have MAJOR SPOILERS!!! You have been warned.

Summary: Hyejin, a dentist who loses her job after accusing her boss of charging patients too much and then becomes blacklisted, finds herself in a small seaside village where things immediately don’t go to plan. In the midst of one of the worst days of her life, she there meets Hong Dusik (more popularly known as Chief Hong), who is well known in the town and is good at pretty much everything. When she finds out the town is in need of a dentist, she realizes this may be her only chance at starting her own business and moves to the seaside town along with her best friend. While she and Chief Hong initially don’t get along, they slowly learn to rely on each other to help out the other members of the community. And possibly even fall in love.

The Good:

Male Lead- Chief Hong is my favorite character in the series and one of my favorite male leads I’ve ever seen in a K-Drama. And that’s saying something. What I like about him is how effortless and charming he is without feeling too unrealistic. Dusik is very likable from the moment you meet him and you can see why everyone else in the village likes him too. He’s very kindhearted and goes out of his way to look out for everyone, even the people he doesn’t necessarily like at first. He’s like a big brother to the entire town and also any and every stranger he happens to meet. This caring nature is not often explored in dramas; most dramas typically center on types that are bit more mysterious and introverted. And that’s fine too! But it’s always nice to see a main male lead that’s just outwardly kind to everyone he comes across. The story also focuses on mental health issues with this character in a way that I thought was very beneficial. They didn’t have him immediately solve his issues and actually showed him dealing with past trauma. He’s also absolutely hilarious. Finding a male lead this sweet is difficult, and I loved every moment this guy was on screen.

The Town- Like I said before, this show is great for escapism almost purely because of this town. It’s gorgeous. Between the beaches and the architecture, this is a place that anybody would never want to leave. Escapism into this town is half of why you watch this show in the first place.

Sub-Plot Romance- My favorite sub plot romance happens with the second lead. Which you don’t often see happen! Usually, once a second lead is spurned by the main female lead they just kind of mope around for the rest of the show and then start to learn to get over it by the end. This second lead is actually very adult and mature about his feelings through the entire show. When he figures out she doesn’t have feelings for him, he immediately backs off. And then he finally fully sees his coworker, who has been with him through all the major moments of his life and career. And one of my favorite things about her is her intelligence as well as her unwillingness to pine after him. She never begs him to notice her, she just waits until he’s smart enough to actually notice her worth. Though we never really see much of a full confirmation of this couple, we see all that we need to. They have finally learned to respect each other equally in a romantic way and I really want to see love story arcs that have more about respect in them.

The Kids- There are two kids in this show and they are seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen on any drama. Their friendship is wholesome, they are constantly there for each other, and any time one of them cries you are also bound to cry with them. So cute. Must protect.

The Community- The community shown in this show is so cute and tight knit. Some of the storylines here are also really touching as well. I specifically loved a storyline about pregnancy that highlighted just how difficult it is for women and how much men can sometimes take for granted. The stances the show took about seniors who often don’t receive care or can be forgotten, were also important. This show sought to create a close knit group of friends while also standing up for important issues. And I thought it was incredible how much the show was able to focus on, while still making everything feel connected.

K-Pop Group- This show depicts a K-Pop group filming a variety show and I loved how kind the show was towards the group and their fans. No one was portrayed as crazy or mean here. It was over-all a pretty respectful depiction. They even showed that the group had adult fans, which is really important when most K-Pop groups are accused of only having teenage girls as fans. Which is an argument that is so wrong on so many accounts that there’s almost too much to unpack there. Anyways, I have respect for the way this show treated K-Pop groups.

The Bad:

Female Lead- Trust me, I am also getting tired of how many times I’m not the biggest fan of a female lead in a K-Drama. But this time it was surprisingly not because she was a blank slate character. Because she actually had a character of her own. My issue with her was that she wasn’t relatable and often felt spoiled. And every time I thought the show was going to humble her, it never really did. Or at least didn’t do it successfully. She looks down on many people in the community throughout the series and she’s easy to be caught in a misunderstanding because of her complete lack of communication skills. She breaks up with Chief Hong because she’s angry that he won’t open up to her about his trauma. Even though they’ve only been dating for about two weeks at that point and it is very clear that he hasn’t even come to terms with his own trauma yet. The ultimatum she gives him with a time frame in which he should tell her about his trauma just feels cruel. Eventually she learns that forcing him to come out with his trauma is due to her lack of patience. But the narrative doesn’t really punish her for it, because he tells her pretty soon afterwards anyways. I didn’t at all hate her. She isn’t here because I hated her. There were some nice lessons about patience that I felt was relatable to me. Especially right now, I can seriously lack patience. And the way she helps some of the members of the community is sweet. But in the end, she never has a satisfying switch from spoiled to helpful. She’s just kinda both.

The Romance- Now, when I say this I’m not talking about the buildup of the romance. Because the friendship between the two leads is actually very cute. This is entirely about how they are as a couple. I’ve said in several past reviews that I absolutely love when a show really depicts how a couple is as a couple. They don’t keep breaking up their couple or finding drama, instead they show how this couple actually works romantically as a team in regular domestic situations. Because that stuff is important too! This drama still has soooo much drama, but they do take the time to show domesticity. Which I would usually like! But for some reason, this couple’s form of domesticity is Hyejin constantly talking in baby talk to Dusik. I understand that there are actual couples out there like this that exist. And if that’s what you like in a romantic relationship, go for it! I’m just not the biggest fan of the idea of the constant babying and cutesy talk. It gets a little annoying to me after a while. Sorry. I seriously have never seen a relationship depicted like this in a drama before, and now I’m pretty grateful for that.

Too Much Drama- I know this is a K-Drama, but they seriously went too far here. And not just with the whole “we met before” storylines, even though that does happen here more than once. I still really don’t understand why it’s important for K-Dramas to have their leads meet as kids. It’s weird. The fact that they “knew” each other as kids doesn’t matter, what matters is that they are in a relationship together now. But on top of that, the latter few episodes of this show kept throwing random tragic things in the backstory of Dusik. He is an orphan that lost his parents and his grandfather also died when he was pretty young. Yikes, but ok. He got into a weird freak car accident with his best friend when he got older and his friend also died. Ok? He also advised an older man to invest in stock that eventually plummeted, driving his family to ruin and driving both Dusik and the old man to serious depression and now he’s being confronted with this man’s grandson. What? Oh, and the second lead was also somehow related to his old best friend who died and his best friend’s wife blames him for the death, so now the second lead is also mad at him. Oh my god, where does it end???? This is starting to read like a soap opera. I think some romantic K-Dramas still haven’t mastered the art of consistency in tone and a concise story. It’s weird to say that a drama has too much drama, but this is way too much. Some of this might have been ok, but they decided to really pack it on here for some reason.

The Community- They are also here too. Sometimes I liked them, but there were certain characters that I really didn’t care about or were really annoying. There was a divorced couple where I couldn’t stand the ex-husband and cringed every time he came on screen. And the main character’s friend really doesn’t have much in the way of her own arc except for a sexual assault storyline that wasn’t given nearly enough time for the writers to properly deal with it. Sometimes the brand of comedy with these characters was way over the top as well.

Like I’ve said in many reviews of mine before, the good versus the bad above probably gives off the wrong impression. I actually really liked this series and I definitely recommend it. It’s setting is lovely and it packs plenty of powerful stories as well. But it definitely isn’t a perfect watch and it covers so much that there will definitely be characters and storylines that you don’t care as much about. But, I think it balances so many storylines very well and I think many of the characters are lovable. You will at least fall in love with the town itself. It isn’t the most profound and astounding watch, but it is a cute watch all the same and I would say I liked my watch of it very much! Now I just have to hopefully find something else to watch so that I can avoid concert spoilers!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Marvel: ‘Hawkeye” Episode 1 and 2 Review

Screenshot of Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner from the Disney+ show ‘Hawkeye’. Copyright goes to Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios.

Hey! Hallie Here!

Happy Thanksgiving! For those of us who live in the US, we spent most of the day eating lots of food and trying to come up with things to be thankful for, which depending on your family might have been that you only have to do this once a year. Meanwhile, Marvel decided to gift us with the first few episodes of their Christmas-influenced show, ‘Hawkeye’. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about this show when it was first announced. Marvel Disney+ shows have been kind of hit or miss for me. ‘WandaVision’ is one of my favorite shows of all time, but ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ was shaky at parts and ‘Loki’ lost its footing in the last half. Not to mention the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of Jeremy Renner. But regardless of their faults, none of the Marvel Disney+ shows have been truly awful and Kate Bishop is enough for me to make up for my disinterest in other aspects of the show. And now that I’ve watched the first two episodes, I can safely say the good is so far outweighing the bad. There’s a lot to unpack here, so here’s your SPOILER warning! I’ll be talking about these episodes in depth ahead, so come back to this after you’ve watched them!

What I Liked:

Kate Bishop: As I expected, she’s my favorite part of this show so far. I really enjoyed that the show opened with a means of tying Kate Bishop into the first ‘Avengers’ film. Her character, and this show in general, has extremely strong ties to New York. What better way to demonstrate that than to show her family living through the disastrous events of Loki’s attack on New York. As for the character herself, she shines in every scene. Her sarcasm and her quick wit are very fun, especially in interactions with her mother’s fiancee. She’s also extremely intelligent, which works well for a protagonist attempting to unfurl a murder plot surrounded by the criminal underbelly of New York. But aside from this, she’s very naive and definitely in over her head. Which is still extremely fun to watch. She wants to be heroic and she wants to impress those around her, but her privileged life has shielded her from expecting the consequences of her actions. In one of her very first scenes she’s nearly expelled from her college program because she destroys a bell tower in an effort to prove her archery skills. And this trait only intensifies when she unknowingly grabs the Ronin costume to fight off various masked assailants and save a dog, only to have an entire mafia group follow her and attempt to murder her immediately afterwards. These traits play really well off of Clint, who tries to instill in her some more rationality while she does her best to prove that an earnest desire to do good can go a long way. She’s definitely a protagonist I’m excited to continue following.

Clint Barton: I can honestly say that I’m already liking this character much more than I anticipated. I never seemed to think the character of Clint was as boring as other people did. He was always the least focused on of the Avengers, but any time they did focus on him, his character felt more grounded and human than the others. Between his friendship with Natasha, the family that was established in ‘Age of Ultron’, and his care for Wanda and Pietro, nearly all of his main storylines were about his close personal relationships and his nonchalance about the superhero business. To me, that’s always worked in his favor. Clint feels like a real person I could encounter on the street. But that doesn’t make up for a lack of character development or the several controversies Renner has gotten into on his days off. However, this show gives us more to work with. First, the show gives him hearing aids! The character has had hearing aids in the comics for quite a bit of time now and that representation is extremely important. I’m grateful that this show finally decided to make that aspect of the character canon in the MCU. I also very much enjoyed the exploration of his trauma. Clint’s reaction to ‘Rodgers’ the musical, aside from the hilarious moment where he turned his hearing aids off, was gut wrenching. Even seeing an awful representation of Natasha on stage is still very raw for him, and it raises interesting questions about the way society handles trauma as well as the way society exploits it. The Ronin identity also brings up old trauma for him, and he pushes not only his family away, but Kate as well in an effort to deal with the problem on his own. His difficult life has most definitely turned him into a broken and cynical man, though Kate’s starting to get through to him. It was also nice to see him genuinely enjoy himself at the LARP event he attended. Despite everything, Clint’s still a really good guy who cares about people and it comes across.

Clint’s Family: I still see people tearing apart the idea of Clint’s family and I really don’t understand it. It might not be the most developed part of his character, but really, there isn’t much of his character that’s been fully developed anyways. In any case, his relationship with his kids feels genuine. I melted when he started signing with his youngest. I also really like that he doesn’t hide anything from his wife, Laura. While he is actively pushing his family away, he still apparently told his wife about the darkest part of his life and he feels it important to actively keep up that line of communication. So many shows would have him keeping the whole Ronin situation a secret, but all we see from Clint and Laura is mutual respect and understanding. I love that.

Echo: We’ve only seen one glimpse of her so far, but I’m already SO excited. Echo starts out in a pretty dark place in the comics, which seems to be what the show is going for as well, but she becomes a pretty amazing superhero in no time at all. And Alaqua Cox is actually Indigenous and deaf, which is incredibly important in accurately portraying this character. I can’t wait to see her journey in this show.

What I Don’t Like:

Kate’s Mother: I have no idea what’s going on with this character at all. I don’t know what her relationship with her daughter is supposed to be like. I don’t know if I’m supposed to like her or not. I don’t know if she’s supposed to be a victim or a villain. I have no ideas. When we first meet her she’s constantly fighting with her husband and doesn’t seem to know how to navigate her relationship with her daughter. Then, when Kate’s grown up, her mother lightly scolds her for destroying the bell tower before bantering back and forth with her about how proud she is of Kate and how much she loves her. But then, it’s revealed she got engaged without telling Kate. After that, she’s worried about Kate when the building they’re in explodes and when Kate’s apartment is attacked, but she doesn’t actually seem all that worried the very next day and doesn’t allow Kate to talk to her in private. Sometimes it feels like she cares about her creepy and obviously suspicious fiancee more than Kate, but others it feels like she cares about Kate more. And on top of all of that, we have no well established backstory on what their relationship was after Kate’s father died, making the relationship and the character more confusing. At this point it just feels inconsistent.

Ronin: It feels like the plot isn’t really taking what Clint did as Ronin very seriously. Yeah, he only went after criminals. But he seriously went on a murder rampage. There really isn’t any excuse for that. There’s no telling if they’ll go into the darker themes in this part of the storyline later, but for now it doesn’t feel entirely well handled.

‘Rodgers The Musical’: Really? You’re expecting me to believe a horribly written musical with high school-level costumes and no discernible budget made its way onto Broadway? AND was able to afford all those billboards around New York? What, did they spend all their money on marketing? (Also, imagine being an actor in the show and hearing the real Hawkeye was spotted in the crowd, only to be told later that he left halfway through. Ooof.)

Those are my thoughts so far! I’m very much enjoying the more lighthearted feel of this series. After the very serious content of the last few series, it’s nice to have something fun and Christmasy to put me in a better mood. I’m definitely eagerly anticipating what ‘Hawkeye’ will give us next. Especially with the promise of Yelena Belova coming as soon as the next episode, there’s a lot to be excited for.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: Monsta X ‘No Limit’ Release

Promotional image of Chae Hyungwon for the single ‘Rush Hour’. Copyright goes to Monsta X and Starship Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I heavily debated what I was going to write today because there is so much going on right now. BTS hype is extremely high with the LA concert being this weekend and next week. I just finished watching one of the most popular K-Dramas right now; ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’. And, on top of all of this, Monsta X graced us with an amazing new single and mini album. So I’ll leave you with a promise of a K-Drama review next time and plenty of hype for BTS next week (I am not going to talk about the Grammys because I personally believe that it needs to die out), because Monsta X’s album drop is my current priority considering it’s already out. They are also my concert after BTS because I couldn’t get ATEEZ tickets which would have been in between the two concerts. (But seeing BTS and Monsta X in the next couple months is crazy enough for me.) As Kpop has broken into the mainstream media, groups like BTS and other younger groups like ATEEZ and TXT have been doing the best of most other K-Pop acts. Unfortunately, Monsta X isn’t as big as some other groups internationally. They are one of the most popular K-Pop groups in South Korea for a reason. You probably already realized by some of my past posts that I’m a Monsta X fan. And I seriously recommend them, a lot of their music is excellent. I feel like the release of this mini album is a huge reminder of what they are capable of. Especially because they completed this one member short. This album has some of my favorite vocal work and it’s just great in general. So, as usual, I’m going to go through this album piece by piece and talk about all the MVs and songs.

Rush Hour:

This is one of my favorite new releases from any group recently. Joohoney has been working on a lot of premiere singles lately and he’s really amazing at it. This is another one of his excellent songs and it packs just as much of a punch as a lot of his past work. The beat immediately kicks in right after IM’s entrance and you know that the song is going to be amazing as soon as it does. Between Kihyun’s amazing vocals for the chorus, the trade off between Hyungwon and Minhyuk, and the amazing rap breaks for both Joohoney and IM, this song is one of the most balanced and impressive singles I’ve seen in a while. It is also catchy as hell and will definitely get stuck in your head. I’ve been listening to it on repeat ever since it came out. It replaced the spot in my head that had been reserved for ONEUS’s ‘No diggity’ for the last couple weeks. And ‘Rush Hour’ is one of those songs that shows that Monsta X is still in the game and ready to fight. In fact, that’s what the lyrics are about. Seriously, if you haven’t listened to this song yet, do it and watch it pull you into the fandom.

Rush Hour MV:

I’m going to start out by saying that this is some of my favorite choreography that I’ve seen from them. I also absolutely loved this concept. It goes between a western them and a racing theme, that go seamlessly together somehow even though you wouldn’t really expect it to. They pull it off amazingly though! The western theme takes up most of the choreographed parts of the MV while the racing theme goes for most of their individual shots. I just love their MVs in general. The suit and tie style of ‘Gambler’, the fifties murder mystery style of ‘Kiss or Death’, and the film tributes in ‘Love Killa’ all stick out in my head when I think of great MVs. Not even just in K-Pop, but in general. I have to say, it is weird to see an MV without Shownu, but I seriously want to commend the guys again for releasing all of this promotional stuff for their album and preparing for their world tour as a five piece. This MV felt like a declaration of a fresh start and between all their singular looks and their new hairstyles (Joohoney’s little buns in his hair were amazing), it feels fresh. If one group has MV concepts down, it’s Monsta X.

Autobahn:

This song is more of a mix of amazing vocals and club beats. It’s definitely one of those songs that would not feel out of place at a party and it’s one of theirs that goes for more of a suggestive feel. Both musically and with the lyrics. That is usually a trademark of Changkyun, IM, who did actually contribute on every aspect of this song. He’s always a master at arranging vocal parts too, so it’s no surprise that the vocal parts of this song stand out so much. What’s also cool about this song is how much it highlights Hyungwon and Minhyuk’s vocals. They almost have more vocal parts between them than Kihyun which you don’t often see. I love any chance to see all of the members of this group shine!

Ride with U:

Another more suggestive song, but this one is definitely more slow and calm and less sultry than Autobahn seems to be. And this one highlights Kihyuns vocals most in my opinion. Which are always gorgeous. Both IM and Joohoney helped with the lyrics, but this song has a little less of their help throughout. Still, it’s a great song overall and I like the more calming nature of it.

Got me in chains:

One of my favorite parts of this song is the beat. It’s less clubby and a bit more funky. But the spilt between the different members is where this stands out. Both Joohoney and IM have lengthy raps in this song and it gives a lot of opportunity for its vocalists to belt. Hyungwon doesn’t get much in this song unfortunately. But both Kihyun and Minhyuk really give it their all. Including some high notes that I should have been expecting but entirely took me by surprise. What’s kind of funny about this song is that most fans expected this to be the most suggestive on this album by the name. But this song actually isn’t. This song is more about desperate longing, and man do the vocals get this sense of desperation across. This one is another that still has the influence of IM and Joohoney, but a little less than some of the other tracks.

Just love:

This is another IM pet project, and damn does it come across as one. There’s something about this song that feels a little like IM’s solo projects and you can tell that it has his stamp in every piece of it. This also has a lot of IM vocals, but it actually doesn’t have much rap. I think we all know by now that both IM and Joohoney are actually amazing vocalists. They don’t just rap. They’re amazing at all of it. Lyrically this also isn’t a very suggestive song, it’s a very pure song about love. The meaningfulness that Changkyun poured into this song comes out in every line and really it’s one of the sweetest love songs I’ve ever read looking at the lyrics. The song discusses loving today’s version of each other and standing by each other through everything with that in consideration. This is one of the slower songs on the album and one of my favorites lyrically.

Mercy:

Another vocal belting song that I love. Kihyun goes all out on this chorus and it’s everything. This is probably one of my favorite songs on the album because of how strong the vocals come across here. And also because of the rap in the middle, written by IM and Joohoney respectively. The song has a slower beat, though it doesn’t feel like a slow song and the rap almost feels like straight poetry. This effect is one that I really love but can be done oddly depending on the style of the rapper involved. But IM and Joohoney are such chameleons that I’m convinced they could do just about anything. You can’t argue that they aren’t some of the best rappers in the industry. Hyungwon’s lower register also stands out to me here. It’s just so good.

I got love:

This is a Joohoney pet project and this one also feels very much like something from him. It’s probably the most upbeat feeling song on the album. And this one is also a very pure love song. This one is just about being happy and it feels very domestic, probably because some of the lyrics are pretty domestic. This is another one that’s pretty split between everyone. Monsta X just tends to be good at that in general. Especially when Joohoney or IM are the main creators of the song. There’s plenty of rap in here too, but Joohoney also takes some of the chorus with Kihyun! Which is very sweet and only reinforces his influence on the song.

If this post hasn’t convinced you to check out Monsta X, I will once again ask you to please check them out or at least other groups you might not have thought of. They also have an incredible reputation in the industry for just being overall nice guys. If you’re wondering why I keep saying things like this, it’s because I really wish international fans wouldn’t take other K-Pop groups for granted. People overlook them even though their debut wasn’t that far off from BTS’s. I will admit, Monsta X’s music isn’t always my thing. But right now their world tour isn’t selling out and that in itself makes me upset. Because they deserve to have all of their venues completely sell out. They are a group that creates a lot of their own stuff, much like BTS. If you can buy a ticket I would seriously recommend it. I’ll be there and I really hope I’ll see a lot of you guys there as well!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: 2021 AMAs Performances and Wins

Screenshot of Kim Taehyung (V), Chris Martin, Will Champion, Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin, and Min Yoongi (Suga) performing at the 2021 AMAs. All rights go to BTS and Coldplay.

Hey! Hallie here!

BTS has officially taken home three awards from this year’s AMAs! It’s no surprise that BTS has received so much attention given how much amazing content they’ve released this year alone. Their hard work and genuine love for their fans comes across in everything they do. If anyone deserves three AMAs, including the Artist of the Year award, it’s them. Along with these amazing wins we also got some incredible performances and funny moments throughout the night. Let’s dive into everything we saw tonight!

Performances:

We got to see two incredible performances involving BTS at this year’s AMAs. The first was “My Universe”, marking the first time BTS was actually able to perform the song with Coldplay! It was so nice to see this group perform live in front of a crowd with one another. They all looked like they were having so much fun, and both Coldplay and BTS seemed to feed each other’s energy. When Chris Martin was singing, the members of BTS were cheering him on. Whenever a member of BTS took the spotlight, Chris Martin blended in with the others, dancing with them and helping hype up the crowd. Given the more casual, but glam, outfit choices and the happiness radiating from the stage, the performance felt as though a group of friends got up on stage to throw a huge party. I couldn’t stop smiling throughout the entire thing. After this performance, BTS closed out the show with their performance of “Butter”. Though I do dislike when American shows put BTS performances last in order to keep their massive fan base watching, I could forgive this instance slightly because it was BTS’s second performance of the night. We’re all familiar with the smooth choreography for “Butter” at this point, but I still want to praise how on point it was tonight. They looked confident and impressive while they were performing the song and, as usual, their dancing didn’t disrupt any of their amazing vocals. I also really loved the outfits for this particular performance of the song. They each wore suits of various designs with yellow colors that dipped more into gold coloring. The variation in their suit jackets in particular was extremely pleasing to the eye without making any one of them seem out of place. In other words, I could watch both of these performances over and over for the rest of my life.

Awards:

BTS won three awards during the award show. Two of these awards were a bit more unsurprising to me, though no less well deserved or impressive. One of those awards was the Favorite Pop Duo or Group award. BTS pretty consistently wins these awards at various award shows now, which is, of course, incredible. The other of these awards was the Favorite Pop Song award. This award had many more contenders that’s popularity might have rivaled “Butter”, but “Butter” was such a large release throughout the summer that I could very easily see it topping the others on this list. I’m very proud of the boys winning with “Butter” in particular because, of their English releases, it’s the song they were able to contribute to the most. Finally, they won the big award of the night, the Artist of the Year award. With names like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo on this list, I’m so proud that BTS pulled above all of their competitors for this year’s award and proved their global impact once again. In the acceptance speech, Namjoon reminisced about their first performance at the AMAs four years ago and the nervousness all of them felt while performing “DNA”. It’s amazing to see how far they’ve come. And, as always, Namjoon credits all of it to ARMY. He still feels as though BTS is a small boy group from Korea, and that humility caries into the thankfulness all of the members feel towards the fans who have helped them become global sensations. It’s really touching. Also in this speech, we saw Jungkook send out some words of encouragement before being carried away from the mic by Jin. What can we expect from BTS if not chaos? All of the members spoke at some point throughout the night, most trying their best to keep their speeches in English and, as always, I was impressed with all of their English progress. As a final touching thank you, the boys went on V-Live and sent out thank you notes to ARMY on social media. Jimin always makes me tear up when he bows.

The Harry Styles Concert:

This happened last night, but it was mentioned so many times during interviews tonight that I felt it was worth mentioning. J-Hope, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook all attended a Harry Styles concert yesterday. Apparently there were many celebrities there, including Chris Evans, Selena Gomez, and Lizzo. The members of BTS spent most of their night dancing and singing with Lizzo right beside them and all of them very much enjoyed their time with her. However, constantly asking BTS about other celebrities has been a major issue at various award shows where the members were ignored or asked about American artists rather than themselves. Fortunately, this time around we saw interviewers manage to ask them about their time with Lizzo respectfully. Jimin and Taehyung even bashfully shared Lizzo’s particular crush on them. Some interviewers did fall into the trap of asking them about a future collaboration with her or something of the kind. But regardless, most interviewers were a lot more respectful of them than we’ve seen in the past and I was grateful for it. BTS has been challenging American media for a while and I’m glad to see interviewers growing as a result.

Overall, this year’s AMAs was pretty great. BTS performed at their best, were comfortable enough to goof around and enjoy themselves, and delivered some truly touching acceptance speeches. As an ARMY, I’m very proud of everything they accomplished tonight. Despite some of the controversies they’ve already faced, I’m glad they’re having so much fun in the US. I hope all of that continues all the way through their concert. As for the controversies, don’t expect to see them addressed here. We’re not here for fan wars. We’re here to let BTS enjoy themselves and to praise their amazing work! Let’s keep in mind that, as fans, our main goal is to wish them a fun and fulfilling trip!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie