BTS: Weverse Magazine Interviews Pt 2

Promotional image of Kim Taehyung (V), Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook, Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), and Kim Namjoon (RM). Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation

Hey! Hallie here!

A couple days ago I tackled the interviews for Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi. So it’s only fair that I move on to the next four and talk about their interviews! As usual, these interviews are very deep and thoughtful. Weverse really taps into the creative processes, the daily lives, and the world views of all of the members. The most recent interviews gave us all of these things and more, plus some updates on how each of the members are doing since they last sat down with Weverse Magazine. They talk about a lot in these interviews, so let’s just jump right in!

Hoseok:

Hoseok goes for the casual, looser look a lot and it always works for him. The smiley face on his oversized sweater speaks to his personality and I love the eye-grabbing shine of the fabric on his shorts. My favorite part though, are the intimidating tinted sunglasses. Hoseok started out his interview with a deep thankfulness towards ARMY. He said that the success of “Butter” is both happy and intimidating because he feels such a large responsibility to ARMY for their support. Hoseok also talked about the process of preparing for songs as a group. Now that the members are so in synch with each other, they’ve noted the importance of pacing themselves with practices, taking breaks, and putting lots of thought into what they want to improve before they take action. However, he does feel it’s important to work hard and put in a lot of preparation time. He said he treats his own time in the spotlight as an opportunity to show off what he’s been working on. As for his time in the background, he always wants to make sure that he’s setting the tone of every music video and bringing in some fun to the background shots. Hoseok always gets very technical about the benefits of both hard physical work and more introspective work for each project, and the way he manages to have fun with it all blows me away. When talking about “Permission to Dance”, he expressed that it felt more natural than “Butter”, which is something many of the members agreed on. He also talked about the importance of learning the significance behind the sign language in the choreography. When it comes to his personal growth, he said he tries to be a source of positive energy but sometimes it isn’t always possible. He finds it freeing to express all of the dark feelings he faces at times. As for quarantine, he’s a bit more restless than the other members and is trying to find other ways to spend his time. But overall, he wanted to let ARMY know that he’s proud of us. Because he wanted all of us to cry.

Jimin:

Jimin went with a surprisingly laid back look that’s very sleek on him. The different designs on the distressed denim shorts are eye catching and the belts on his boots give them an interesting shape. Jimin started out his interview by saying that the current successes of BTS doesn’t feel real. However, Jimin said he got a lot of happiness and comfort out of the fan reactions to their songs. Jimin said that he’s especially comforted by the idea that he will see the fans soon and that more interactions with ARMY are on the horizon. Lately, Jimin noted that he’s been focusing less on what he can show off and more about what feelings he wants to express when he comes to each new project. Moving on from this, he was asked about working on both of their new songs, at which point he said that “Butter” was really hard for him to grasp. The power behind the dance took a lot of practice to get right and felt less natural, though he said his wardrobe always helps him get into the theming of a song. Lately, Jimin said that he’s been using ARMY’s expectations of BTS to get him through the harder times. He misses interacting with ARMY and specifically getting their feedback. Going back to “Butter”, Jimin noted that singing the song in English was hard, and especially for that song, he kept trying to find new ways to sing the higher notes so they would sound clean. As for the pandemic, Jimin said that he’s been able to calm his nerves a bit more now by talking to the other members. He also noted that he feels more emotionally stable than he did when BTS began, saying that he used to feel like he had to fake a lot of his emotions to hide how much stress trying to balance success and a personal life caused him. He says now it’s easier to focus on himself and his own needs. Jimin seems to be at peace with himself and more open to exploring his maturity through his music, which is something I deeply appreciate.

Taehyung:

Tae went for some denim and a zipped-up, collared shirt which walked an interesting line between casual and classy. He completed the look with some classic sunglasses that tipped the look further into the classy direction. Tae began his interview with his obsession with Louis Armstrong. Are any of us surprised? He did say, though, that his classic tastes help relax him and think himself through his darker moments. Apparently he took a lot of inspiration from some classic figures for “Butter”. He mentioned Billy Joel, but also said he was inspired by a lot of teen movies and the actors in them for the “Butter” feeling. He said teen movies influenced him for their high energy and bright feel with a bit of something more mature behind them. That darker maturity is something he said is featured more in “Butter”, where “Permission to Dance” is much brighter. He did say “Butter”s high notes were difficult, but he also said he felt they suited him. He credited this change from the “Dynamite” days to a lot of practice on expanding his range. Tae was also asked about “Blue and Grey” and he spoke again about how important he felt it was to share those feelings with ARMY, who could see his emotions and relate to the song. He said these emotions are often his inspiration for songs, so he keeps a diary of the things that emotionally effect him so that he can use them in his work. As for a deeper look at how he’s doing in quarantine, Tae said that he enjoys his busy schedule, though it’s difficult, because it makes him stronger. He also finds it important to be frequently putting out content so he can get closer to the fans and hear their stories. He views ARMYs as important friends who he wishes to make happy. He left the interview with a song recommendation, “No. 1 Party Anthem” by the Arctic Monkeys, and a hope to be able express both the good and the bad in his music. I think ARMY would agree that he’s already succeeding.

Jungkook:

Jungkook also went with denim, though the highlight of his outfit is his textured shirt. The shirt looks like a jersey at the top, but the design is cut off by yet another differently textured fabric on his sleeves, and all of that on top of a white under-layer. Though Jungkook looked relaxed drawing during his photoshoot, his first question betrayed his anxiety. When asked about BTS’s recent successes, Jungkook said that it somewhat feels like a burden despite the fact that it makes him happy. He feels that he can’t always keep up with the effort to be even better with each new release. Jungkook, unlike the other members, said that he felt comfortable with “Butter” because he felt he could express more in that song than he could with “Dynamite”. “Dynamite” frustrated him at times and he felt he could have done better. He did note that part of his frustrations might be how strange it is to sing in English. In all of the songs, though, Jungkook found enjoyment in discovering which styles suited a song best. He talked a lot about how he’s constantly improving his voice and working on his own style. He said he’s still trying to discover what kind of artist he is and he feels he has nothing substantial to show for his efforts as of right now. He even said he feels he might fall behind because of it. In quarantine, Jungkook said that he’s been casually doing what interests him and trying to learn from those around him. Especially with painting. He’s working on his mixtape as well, though it’s difficult, and is trying to express himself as best he can with those songs. Jungkook did talk about how disappointed he is that he can’t get energy from ARMY as much now. (He also did express gratefulness to ARMY for selling out his favorite drink.) Overall, Jungkook talked a lot about his lack of sleep and his frustrations with himself. I hope that Jungkook is easier on himself in the future and sees more value in what he’s doing. I understand his frustrations, but it breaks my heart to see him suffering this way.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Superheroes: Captain Marvel Resurgence

Screenshot of Brie Larson in ‘Avengers: Endgame’. Copyright goes to Marvel Entertainment and Disney.

Hi! It’s Annie!

A while ago I made a post about masculinity in female characters in the media and the way it is being misused. I’m not going to go more into that here since I made a previous post about it, but one of my major examples was the character of Captain Marvel. Really, this entire topic can be difficult to talk about because it’s a difficult line to walk. It isn’t fair to see feminine erasure in female characters or femininity being portrayed as less strong, while at the same time it is also accurate to say that masculinity is present in anyone of any gender. The definitions of femininity and masculinity are rightfully changing. But, the movie ‘Captain Marvel’ has been relentlessly attacked since its release and Brie Larson has also seen her fair share of abuse just for this movie coming out. When it was announced that we would be getting a second movie, there was a giant resurgence of people attacking the movie. Many people said that the sequel shouldn’t come out at all because they insinuated that no one liked the first one. And when anybody tried to voice their support of the first movie or say why they liked it, they were attacked by hundreds of people telling them why they were wrong. And while I admit that the first ‘Captain Marvel’ movie had some issues, I don’t think that attacking it or its fans in this way is productive. People have also been using female criticisms, like the one I wrote above, as excuses to attack people. So, let’s get into why attacking ‘Captain Marvel’ in this way doesn’t make any sense.

‘Captain Marvel’ is Not the Worst Marvel Film:

Can we all just admit to ourselves that ‘Captain Marvel’ is definitely not the worst movie that Marvel has released? In fact, it isn’t even a bad one. Did the movie lack some much needed character development? Yes. But that doesn’t make it bad. The acting in the movie was phenomenal and it provided the MCU with some much needed representation. It was also a fun watch! Between the adorable aliens, badass Nick Fury, the return of Coulson, and actual female friendships, this movie got a lot right. Of course it isn’t perfect. But in the end it was a start. My criticisms of this movie have never come from a place of hating this movie entirely. They come from a place of being frustrated that we aren’t seeing enough of the representation we need yet and wanting things to improve over time. And I will admit that this movie made strides forward in female representation just by having the “I have nothing to prove to you” line. That was the absolute best way they could have handled that main villain in my eyes.

Brie Larson is NOT Your Punching Bag:

I have no idea what happened in the hate of this movie that made people think it was ok to go after Brie Larson. Did she write the movie? No. Then why are you blaming her for all the failings of the movie? People were even zoning in on certain interviews, pointing out meaningless body language of other actors, and claiming that this was proof that nobody liked her. I can’t even put into words how ridiculous it is to frame-by-frame go through interviews to justify to yourself why you don’t like a person. And I can’t put into words how ridiculous it is to decide you don’t like someone because you didn’t like the movie they were in. Brie Larson did not deserve this hate and I think it’s pretty saddening to see the lead of the first Marvel female-led film being treated like this. For virtually no reason. It’s one thing if you dislike the movie, it’s an entirely different thing if you attack the actors over it. Also, why is it that Brie Larson is praised by men when ‘Scott Pilgrim’ comes up but then absolutely spit on by those same men when ‘Captain Marvel’ comes up? Can someone explain this to me, because I am really confused.

Captain Marvel is Not A Horrible Character:

Now, I’m not going to claim here that she’s the best character ever. She’s not. I have a lot of issues with her character and the way the writing restricted her. I think we saw elements of her becoming much better in ‘Endgame’ though. I think ‘Engame’ had some pretty strategic moments where her personality and sense of humor shone through that we didn’t get nearly enough of in her singular movie. And I think her portrayal in ‘Engame’ actually marks what could be a turn in the right direction for this character. But even before, I didn’t think she was awful. I liked some of the elements of her character that we saw, which was the same rebellious, sarcastic, and humorous nature that we saw more of in ‘Endgame’. I just think the movie didn’t take as much time as it should have to focus on that. The movie struggled with developing almost all of its characters, not just Carol Danvers. And things like this can often happen when a movie decides to center on an amnesia plot. If the main character doesn’t know who they are or who anyone around them is, it can be difficult to discern that as an audience member as well. Some movies can balance this confusion and make this kind of plot work and this wasn’t one of those movies. Thankfully, we won’t be dealing with that storyline anymore, so hopefully we’ll see more concise writing for her in the future.

Men Mis-using Arguments:

I have an issue with men taking female concerns and attacking women over liking a specific piece of media by telling them that other women have concerns about it which means they shouldn’t like it either. This happens a lot with Captain Marvel. I have seen so many positive tweets about Carol Danvers made by women, end up trashed by men because they argue that other women didn’t like Captain Marvel either. And that’s ridiculous. We can have concerns over a piece of media and still like the parts of it that succeeded. I especially saw this with the argument I mentioned above about how Carol was written with almost no feminine traits. Women will say that they like her representation and then men tell them that they can’t even count Carol as female representation if women don’t think she was written in a feminine enough way. And that entire thought process has so many things wrong with it that I don’t even have the energy to tackle that entire sentence. Basically, what I’m saying here is that you don’t get to guilt people into having your opinion. Especially when it is not your place to do so.

Leave People Alone:

At the end of the day, we’re talking about a movie. Something that was created to be enjoyed. And this movie isn’t bad in any way nor is it extremely problematic. I don’t understand why there’s such a pushback when it comes to people liking this movie or even bringing it up. If people like it, let them like it. You don’t have to like it. Nobody ever said that you were being forced to like this movie. And there’s no purpose in trying to get all people to universally condemn this movie. It doesn’t make any sense and everyone has different and valid opinions. So, why can’t you just be fine with people liking what they like? You don’t have to tell them that they’re wrong just because you have a different opinion. I’m really tired of people just trying to share wholesome art pieces of Carol or tweets about how much they loved that recent Brie Larson movie and being attacked by people just for doing those things. The exact same thing happens for anyone who says that they like the sequel trilogy movies in ‘Star Wars’. Yes, we get you don’t like it. But not everyone has to share your opinions, Jerry.

I am personally pretty neutral on ‘Captain Marvel’ as a movie (which is the same stance I have on the sequel trilogy). There were good things about it and bad things about it. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I’ll watch it if other people want to, but it wouldn’t be one of my go-to movies. But there are people out there who love this movie, and their opinion is not more or less valid than my own. There is no reason for ‘Captain Marvel’ to be trending on Twitter every other day due to fan wars just because they announced there would be a second movie. I’m really sick of seeing it, guys. Just leave fans of Carol Danvers alone, ok? They aren’t doing anything wrong. And I want the second ‘Captain Marvel’ movie to come out if only because we’re getting Ms. Marvel and Park Seojoon in a Marvel film. Let me repeat, Park Seojoon of ‘Itaewon Class’ is going to be in a Marvel film. I’m excited!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

BTS: Weverse Magazine Interviews Pt 1

Screenshot of Min Yoongi (Suga), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung (V), and Kim Namjoon(RM) from the “Butter” music video. Copyright goes to BTS and the Hybe Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

Weverse Magazine just keeps giving us amazing interviews! This past week we received an interview for each member of BTS released daily. It wasn’t all that long ago that I discussed the last set of Weverse interviews, but I always love talking about them. These interviews always get really deep and the members of BTS always have something interesting to say. The most recent interviews are no different. Even with the last articles being somewhat recent, I felt like each member had updates to everything they discussed last time. These interviews are long so let’s just get into them!

Namjoon:

Namjoon went for more of a dark, sporty look this time around and it adds a lot of intrigue to his photos. The most striking thing about his look here is both the way the dark fabric of his suit lays loosely on him, and his newer short haircut, which suits him incredibly well. He started out the interview talking about his exercise regimen, which he said is something he takes seriously even though his diet doesn’t always help the situation. Relatable, Namjoon. All of that lead into his daily routine. All of the members talked about their daily routine in these interviews. It’s interesting to see how much more rest they’re getting due to quarantine. I can’t help but feel that it’s kind of a good thing. Namjoon specifically talked a lot about how stable and clear his schedule feels. Namjoon also mentioned that his current situation is affecting his inspiration to create. He said he draws a lot off of his experiences and, with his life as slow as it is now, there aren’t as many experiences he can draw off of. But I’ll get back to that later. In the meantime he talked about how much he wanted a Grammy but how insignificant it is in the long run, which is a very mature response to everything that happened. Then he discussed how hard he worked for “Butter” as opposed to how easy “Permission to Dance” felt. He even said he enjoyed singing for a change, which makes me want to hear him sing more. Back to inspiration, though, he discussed how “Bicycle”, his recent release, felt like everything he had to say about his life right now. Especially because he feels most free when he’s in his own thoughts on his bicycle. Still, Namjoon feels as though lyrics are much more difficult to write, which halts his entire starting process of creating a song. The new routine is making him question who he really is. And I feel like everyone can relate to that confusing self discovery we went through or are going through while still dealing with the pandemic, as well as the lack of motivation and inspiration. I hope Namjoon knows he isn’t alone.

Jin:

Jin went for a really laid back feel in his photos. He could be seen lounged on a couch next to a blow-up palm tree. He always looks stunning in white so I have to call attention to his sheer, white, long-sleeve top over his white t-shirt. It adds texture and just looks nice. As for Jin himself, he’s a really laid back guy. Jin actually expressed an appreciation for everything being online right now. Though he said he couldn’t really process “Butter”s success because of the online nature of most of the things they attend, he also said that he feels less pressure because of it. He noted that the pressure he felt over “Dynamite” was something he wound up working through and, as such, is something he feels he can cope with better now. As for his slower daily routine, he said he feels he’s healthier and he gets more sleep. Good. He also talked about “Abyss”. He said he felt relief after releasing the song because he was facing an unknown side of himself and allowing ARMY to see him as a person with natural negative thoughts. He spoke about how high “Butter” is to sing, which was funny considering he wasn’t the only one of the members who discussed this. Similarly “Butter” was difficult to practice but he said he feels he’s improved. He also discussed how the lyrics were difficult to memorize for both “Butter” and “Permission to Dance”. He enjoyed the challenge, though. He also feels he makes up for his poor memorizing skills in other ways. I love how he’s coming to appreciate his own skills. My favorite part about this interview, though, was how much Jin emphasized the importance of rest. He said that sometimes your brain needs to have a day where you aren’t doing much. Those days are productive even if other people tell you that they aren’t. With everyone’s mental health as it is now, this is such an important message. Between that and his obvious care for ARMY, this interview really left an impact on me.

Yoongi:

Yoongi went for a full royalty look for this shoot. And why not? He might as well be. I especially liked that his fully decorated varsity jacket and white shorts contrasted with his elegant crown. Yoongi was asked right away about his progress after his surgery. He said he’s doing well and keeping up with his physical therapy! He also said that he’s been trying to find other things to do outside of work, but it hasn’t worked out. Apparently he’s bad at games so people troll him online. I feel bad for finding that hilarious. As for the success of “Butter” he said it hasn’t sunk in. He was also asked about the message of “Permission to Dance” and I feel he captured the message of this song better than anyone else. He said that the song is a message of hope for everyone who keeps watching this situation get dragged out farther and farther. The song promises that there’s an end to it all. With everyone frustrated by the current situation, I really feel like that message is important. He also pointed out that the pandemic isn’t all negative. He’s been spending a lot of time with his family and feels more emotionally stable. I love that he’s feeling so comfortable. However, unlike Namjoon he didn’t enjoy singing as much in “Permission to Dance”. He feels he needs to practice more, though singing wasn’t as difficult for him as English pronunciation. This is a friendly reminder that the fact that BTS releases English songs in the way that they do is really impressive. Overall, Yoongi said that he likes to make music that he wants to make, but that the public will enjoy as well. He doesn’t want to sacrifice his wants, but he’s open to suggestions and compromise. The most important thing for him, though, is that the artist has a say in what they do so they can have fun doing it. Here he brought up how corrupt companies can be when viewing artists as a product rather than as a creative entity. Someone show this interview to the entire K-Pop industry.

I’m going to stop here for now. As usual, I’ll be analyzing the other interviews in my next post, so look out for that! I really hope these posts help narrow down some of the major points! They’re long interviews and they tend to cover a lot of topics so I hope this helps give anyone of any attention span a good idea of what the members are trying to get across in long pieces like these. I love how deeply thoughtful and emotional the members of BTS are. They each teach me something new in every interview. I can’t remember the last time I’ve found this type of connection in a celebrity interview.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: Vincenzo

Screenshot of Song Joongki in ‘Vincenzo’. Copyright goes to Logos Film, Studio Dragon, and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I’ve been trying to space out the reviews for the dramas I recently watched, but some of them were so good that it’s extremely difficult for me to do that. I just want to talk about them all as soon as possible! I think a fair few people have heard about ‘Vincenzo’ even if you haven’t actually watched it. It’s one of the biggest K-Dramas on Netflix right now and focuses on a member of the mafia. Mafia based stories have been seeing a resurgence after a while of not seeing much of them. ‘Vincenzo’ is about a Korean consigliere of the Italian mafia named Vincenzo Cassano, who returns to South Korea after his former boss dies in order to retrieve gold that is hidden under a building that Vincenzo owns. Unfortunately, by the time he gets back, his building has been occupied by some pretty insane tenants. One of them is a lawyer, who he befriends, who seeks to destroy a corrupt company. After a tragic accident, Vincenzo is thrown into the fight against the company and realizes that this company might be even more corrupt than they all originally thought. All the while he tries to keep the gold a secret from the tenants of the building. It sounds like a more complicated plot than it is, and I swear it’s done really well. Once again, I have to say this is one of my favorite dramas I’ve ever watched. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Unlike in my last reviews, this show actually has some pretty insane plot twists. Seriously consider if you want to read my in depth review before you watch it. And trust me, it’s worth the watch.

Bene:

Vincenzo- I have never been a huge fan of the romantic movie portrayal of the mafia. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that everyone who has ever been a part of the mafia is evil, because that’s simply not true. Most people involved with the mafia, or related groups, are people who were born into it who didn’t have much of a choice. But I’m also not going to say that a lot of the acts that are committed in those groups aren’t evil. Because they most certainly are. Really it’s a tough situation to tackle, and most forms of entertainment don’t even cover these topics. But I will say, I am occasionally entertained by some form of mafia media. And this is one of my favorite depictions that I’ve seen. Vincenzo is a badass. There’s nothing disputing this. One of my favorite things about Vincenzo is how much you don’t realize he has control over every situation until later. There are many moments in the show where Vincenzo will tell the villain that the only reason he hasn’t killed him yet is because he’s not enough of a threat to do so. And when Vincenzo finally gets around to wanting to kill him, he describes it as a cat finally eating a mouse after it’s played around with it for a while. Even when you think someone in the show is more powerful than Vincenzo in a situation, you’re wrong. And the urgency is still there, because the show is less about protecting Vincenzo and more about protecting other people. They balance this dynamic well. Vincenzo is also a likable character, if not necessarily moral. When Chayoung asks Vincenzo if he’s ever killed anyone, Vincenzo says no. Which is a lie. And it isn’t to make her feel better, it’s because he wishes that killing was never a part of his life. Vincenzo is a character that consistently feels regret for what he does, and tries to atone by showing simple kindnesses to as many people as he can. By the end of the show he becomes a major protector of those who can’t protect themselves. But he is never a hero or portrayed to be one. This character could have gone so wrong in so many ways, but the writers managed to strike the perfect balance within his character.

Chayoung- The main female character and an amazing one at that. She is never treated differently by anyone because she’s a woman. Especially not Vincenzo. She becomes the main lawyer for the victims of Babel Group after her father dies by their hands. She previously used to work for Wusang Law Firm, who works closely with Babel Group, but changed sides to get revenge for her father. She is not your typical female lead, as she is just as vindictive as Vincenzo at times. And she’s a lot more likely to poke fun at the other side. But she’s also the heart of the group. Her main objective is never killing and she often tries to encourage Vincenzo to find other ways to deal with their situations. She can also hold her own in a fight just by sheer willpower. If Vincenzo isn’t there, she’s resident protector of everyone else and it’s a job that she doesn’t take lightly. She is the wittiest character in the entire show, and her fast dialogue is part of what made this show so entertaining for me.

The Romance- The romance between Vincenzo and Chayoung is definitely a slow burn. And I much prefer that. Because, especially in these kinds of shows, making the main male and female leads a couple can often result in the female lead feeling like nothing more than the love interest. Because they don’t even realize they have romantic feelings for each other until towards the end of the show, this is never an issue. Each character is focused on for the purpose of exploring their characters rather than romance. And when they do get together it’s really cute because it feels like it’s been such a long time coming. They make each other better people, and that’s something that really comes across even before they get together.

The Tenants- The group of people who live in the building are a much needed source of comic relief after some of the more intense moments in the show. And I love how much they care about each other and how much Vincenzo learns to care for them in turn. I especially liked Vincenzo caring for the teenagers, or how cute his relationship was with the undercover cop once he came in. Vincenzo is always there when they need him, and in turn they all learn to be there when Vincenzo needs them. The scenes with them can be extremely wholesome and a much needed break when you need one.

Jang Hanseok- The biggest plot twist in this show that I didn’t see coming. And I felt so betrayed and stupid for not seeing it. When we first meet this character, known at the time as Jang Junwoo, he’s super adorable. He’s the quirky assistant of Chayoung from when she worked at Wusang and he continues to be an informant for her after she leaves. He often speaks in English and is very happy-go-lucky. He has a huge crush on her and very obviously cares about her well-being. And then it’s revealed that he is the true CEO of Babel Group and the main villain of the entire show. And the thing is, he doesn’t suddenly become less fun to watch because he’s evil. He’s one of the few fun villains I’ve seen in dramas. I find that a lot of dramas feature the classic mustache-twirling evil villains with not much of a personality. This is not the case here. This is the type of villain who will capture your attention in every scene. Sometimes he’ll even make you laugh. And then he’ll do something so evil and vile that all you want to do is look away, but you just can’t. He also screams a lot, which I actually found funny. This is the villain I’m looking for in dramas. The one that you can’t help but like when he’s on screen even if you hate his guts. One thing I will say, is that he’s not an understandable villain. But his upbringing is more than enough reason for what you see, even if the outcome is a little out there. I don’t think you always need a super in depth backstory for your villain as long as you have other things to pull from.

Jang Hanseo- The brother of Hanseok who poses as the CEO for Babel Group. He starts out the show as a complete coward and ended the show as one of my favorite characters. At first he has no plans other than trying to keep his brother from killing him. Because his brother will most certainly kill anyone on a whim. But after he decides that he wants to run Babel Group correctly, he decides to ask Vincenzo for help. And Vincenzo initially refuses, but Hanseo uses this as an opportunity to prove himself. He deliberately protects Vincenzo on several occasions and even offers to do menial tasks, like sorting through all of Vincenzo and Chayoung’s filing. There are several times when the show tricks you into thinking that he’ll betray Vincenzo. But never take this character for granted. He’s too pure for that. And then he even asks if he can refer to Vincenzo as a brother, which is something that Vincenzo can’t deny him because it’s so clear that Hanseo wishes he actually had a healthy brotherly relationship. He gets close to Vincenzo, and you realize that this character is just a puppy. And then they kill the puppy. I am not kidding when I say I sobbed. This wasn’t just tearing up or a couple tears. I literally had a pillow clutched to my chest that I was sobbing into. And he goes out by proving that he’s not the coward that he was. He gives up his life for Vincenzo in the ultimate selfless move and I will never get over this. I loved him. I wish he hadn’t died, but his death proved to the audience just how precious this character is. I still wish he hadn’t died and will forever be crying over this.

Seo Miri- The ghostly piano teacher and a tenant of Vincenzo’s building. Unlike the other tenants, she has a bigger part to play in the over-all story. It’s revealed that she is a major hacker and one of the people who was involved with placing the gold under the building to begin with. She becomes more and more involved with schemes as the show goes on. And I’m always game for suddenly revealing that the woman standing in the back has always been the smartest person in the room. I love her.

Inzhagi- I just really liked the fact that Vincenzo essentially had a pet pigeon by the end of this. It was such a weird but cute plot point that actually added some character development to Vincenzo.

Cattiva:

Wusang Law Firm- Both the major characters in Wusang Law Firm were not ones I could ever get behind. Myunghee is the second major villain, and I loved the fact that there was a female villain in this show. But none of the villains, other than Hanseok, are given much in the way of fun character points or backstory. You learn pretty early on that Myunghee resents being told what to do and resents men in power. But she ends up working for one and this is never touched on again. She becomes pretty loyal and nothing more. And then sometimes she screams people down or feels like she’s smart in a situation where she isn’t really, which can get annoying. She’s supposed to be a mind that can combat Vincenzo, but she isn’t. She was never threatening to me or interesting and I wish that hadn’t been the case. And then you have Seunghyuk who is the CEO of Wusang and just a dumb coward. I think the show would have worked just as well with Myunghee being the CEO of Wusang and this character not existing. I know they wanted to show a despicable coward, but so many of the villains had cowardice moments that he often felt like a waste of screen time.

The Tenants- Though I liked seeing the tenants sometimes, I think they might have gotten slightly too much screen time. Especially because the screen time that they did get focused a lot more on being comedic than it focused on actual character development. I never really felt close to any of the characters, I only felt connected to how these characters benefited Vincenzo’s character development. There’s a moment where the show tricks the audience into thinking one of the tenants dies. And, don’t get me wrong, I liked his character. But I didn’t feel connected enough to him to really feel it when it happened. Or maybe that was because that was after Hanseo died and I had cried myself out by then. Because that’s also a possibility. Nevertheless, the tenants are nothing but the clowns in the circus. They’re funny, but they aren’t what you’re here to see. I would have liked the show to spend a bit more of this screen time on other characters or at least trying to develop some of the tenants more.

The Gold- The gold didn’t feel like it had much over-all plot relevance. In the end it was just a plot device that they occasionally had to address because this was what tied Vincenzo to the story. And I think something so important should have been better woven into the main storyline. I would have liked if the villains had some agenda regarding the gold. It probably would have tied in better if they had. But because they didn’t, whenever the show addressed the gold it felt like the show was pulling away from the main story. And considering that the gold was such a major plot device, it was weird that it didn’t connect to more stuff anyways. Vincenzo didn’t even really need the gold for anything. The story would have been so much more concise if there was more of a purpose for that gold.

The Birds- I liked Inzhagi. Don’t get me wrong. But the entire scene where pigeons saved Vincenzo from those Italian mafia guys was a bit ridiculous. I think it was a step too far.

And that’s it! Obviously, I had more compliments for this show than criticisms. Even though most of my criticisms were pretty large all things considered, in the end it didn’t take away from what I liked most about this show. It’s a show with a good amount of action that never gets too serious or bloody. And as someone who does not like anything near horror, this was something that I could easily watch and appreciate. But it’s not soft enough that kids could watch it. Please don’t think this means this is for families. There’s still a lot of violence in this show. But the show has a good balance, some great characters, and more than enough to keep you entertained. This show is popular for a reason and I highly recommend it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Games You Should Give a Second Chance

Screenshot of Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto from ‘Final Fantasy XV’. Copyright goes to Square Enix.

Hey! Hallie here!

I haven’t done a video game post in quite a bit and I miss talking about gaming! For a lot of the past few months I’ve been struggling with my motivation to do much of anything really, but I’m starting to get some of that motivation back and that means I’m back to playing more games! As I’m revisiting some of my favorite games I’m starting to realize that a lot of the games I really love were either overlooked or poorly reviewed because of various circumstances. That doesn’t mean these games don’t have fan bases. Some of these games have very devoted fans. It’s more that these games, for some reason or another, wound up with a bad reputation that turned a lot of gamers away from them. So today I’m going to try to explain the situation and defend some of my favorite video games in the hopes that more people can discover them and enjoy them just as much as I do!

‘Detroit: Become Human’:

I’m starting out with probably the most popular game on this list. I still come across people talking about this game on social media despite the fact that it came out about three years ago. However, even when this game was released it was highly debated. The first reviews that came out praised it for its deep characters and choice-heavy gameplay. But it was also criticized for being tone deaf to the social issues it was trying to tackle. These social issues in particular drove a lot of gamers away. Why? Well, because this game is about androids who were created to serve humans. Except these androids realize they’re being treated like slaves and decide to start a revolution to fight for their rights. I wonder what real life scenario this is supposed to be commenting on? Between segregated cars on the back of buses that are specifically for androids, to using phrases like “We have a dream” for the android revolution, this game could get very heavy handed and controversial. I think it’s obvious to anyone that the treatment of the Black community can’t be compared to the treatment of androids in the game. As an analogy for our world, ‘Detroit: Become Human’ is a poor one. But the game has a lot more to offer than failed attempts at addressing society. Its characters are deeply thought out and well acted. I specifically recommend the game for the characters of Connor and Hank. Connor is an android who gets assigned to a police officer, Hank, on an android-related case. Hank and Connor’s relationship starts out rocky, but as the game goes on, depending on your choices, they develop a very strong and emotional bond. The game is at its strongest when the two are left to debate moralistic issues from their very opposite points of view and by the end of it, you really feel like Hank views Connor as a son. These extremely real feeling characters in horribly complex moral situations really make the game shine. Especially because your choices drive these conversations. Maybe this game isn’t a good analogy, but the way it connects you to the characters in a story-heavy way that you are very much in control of, is immersive in a way you won’t find in most other video games.

‘Final Fantasy XV’:

This game has a lot of fans, but not because it initially had good reviews. This game gained a following majorly because the main characters are, admittedly, very attractive and because this is a ‘Final Fantasy’ game. As for initial reviews, this is one of those games that most gamers could tell was released too early. It was extremely buggy, fighting gameplay was clunky, and the load screens were so long that, no matter what came after the screen, it wasn’t worth the wait. Many gamers put down this game after the first few weeks it was released and never looked back. But I really think its worth coming back to now that a few years have passed. A lot of it has been fixed. The fighting is now much smoother and I haven’t encountered any major glitches at all. (The load screens are still long but it’s still a good game despite it.) On top of all of that, various incredibly good story bits were added. For those who don’t know, this game follows Noctis, a prince who was sent away by his father to get married in the hopes of creating peace with an enemy kingdom. Noctis is accompanied on his journey by three friends: His bodyguard, Gladio, his royal advisor, Ignis, and his classmate, Prompto. After the four leave, however, they realize that Noctis can’t return to his home until he possesses the power to free it. The game dives deeply into these four characters. You spend all of your gameplay fighting with them, camping with them, trying to make enough money for the four of you to survive, and just bantering back and forth. The story drives home that these four would die for one another. And you see that nearly happen multiple times. I’ll highlight my favorite character here, Ignis, for making a major sacrifice halfway through the game. He also has a more recent DLC that is by far one of the best DLC’s I’ve ever played. It gives a major insight into his own thoughts and feelings. This game is more complex than most think and if you abandoned it, now is the time to return.

‘Ghostbusters: The Video Game’:

This game is definitely the least popular here. It isn’t an unpopular game necessarily. ‘Ghostbusters’, after all, has a pretty large and loyal fan base. It’s just that this game ended up being rejected by gamers right when it was announced. Video games that are based off of movies are almost never good. Who was to say that this game would be an exception? Apparently Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd. Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd famously played Egon and Ray in the original ‘Ghostbusters’ movies. They’re also the writers for the films. And they also wrote the story for the video game. Not only that, but all of the original Ghostbusters, plus Janine and Walter Peck, returned to reprise their roles in the video game. This game isn’t a quick cash grab. The writers of the original movies came up with an entirely new story containing their ideas on what a third movie might look like, and then pulled in a good chunk of the cast to return to bring it to life. In the game you play as a rookie, training under the Ghostbusters while they deal with yet another ghostly catastrophe. And Gozer is definitely involved again. It feels like a continuation of the movies. The humor is on point, the lore is rich, and the story is excellent. As for the gameplay, it’s a really fun shooter with a lot of interesting variation when you realize that the same tricks won’t work on every ghost. And if you’re looking at the game that was just remastered, it’s beautiful. The places you go to are taken almost exactly from the films. The screen accuracy of just the elevator in the Sedgewick Hotel is scarier than any of the ghosts you’ll encounter in the game. And it all looks real enough to touch. If you’re a ‘Ghostbusters’ fan, definitely give this a chance.

That’s my list for now! I have tons of other games like this I could talk about, so maybe you’ll see this become a series! As for now, I hope this post convinced you to look past some of the criticisms these games get. They all have really excellent stories and some really fun gameplay. I return to all three of these yearly. I hope you find something on this list that will make you return just as often as I do!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: Her Private Life

Screenshot of Kim Jaewook and Park Minyoung in ‘Her Private Life’. Copyright goes to Studio Dragon and tvN.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I have been stuck in the wormhole of K-Drama binge watching for the past few weeks. I watched four dramas in a row and it was really difficult to get over any of them. I will somewhat space out my reviews of the dramas I watched (one of them is already posted), but we’ll see how much I hold off because I have so many thoughts about literally all of them. Today, I just finished this drama which I thought I would review so soon because it’s another drama about K-Pop. Though, this one is more about K-Pop fans. The show follows Sung Deokmi, a K-Pop fan who runs a fan-page for her favorite idol, Sian, and she’s also an art curator at an art museum. After an incident where she was accidentally photographed coming out of Sian’s apartment building, fans begin to assume that she is dating Sian. This leads to issues for both the idol himself and it calls into question her safety; which prompts her boss at the art museum to suggest that he pretend to be her boyfriend in the hopes that she’ll stop being attacked. This is actually a really good use of K-Pop in a show and an excellent try in getting people to better understand fans of idols and idol groups. While this show doesn’t actually follow idols and idol groups, it’s nice to get a show that focuses on K-Pop where I really liked the writing. For the most part. This review will have MAJOR SPOILERS, but in my personal opinion, there aren’t too many plot twists so there isn’t much to spoil. Let’s get into it!

The Good:

The Main Romance- I am not able to speak enough about the main romance in this. It’s the type of relationship that is so cute it will definitely make you feel lonely if you’re single. Ryan and Deokmi begin on semi-bad terms, though not completely. This isn’t really a hate to love story. There’s just a small misunderstanding that goes away very quickly after they start getting to know each other better. And then there’s a bigger misunderstanding that goes away a bit later. (He thinks she’s dating a woman, which he’s actually really supportive about.) He at first offers to pretend to be her boyfriend to hopefully make fans believe that she isn’t dating Sian, but then things get complicated when the two start falling for each other. They officially get together about half way through the show, but the show still never fails to focus on their relationship from there. They don’t throw in too much drama, they treat the relationship itself as an interesting enough plot point. Which is something I want to see more dramas do! You see them goof around with each other, develop a sense of humor all their own, develop inside jokes, support each other when they’re having a hard time, encourage the other to cry in front of them if they need to, etc. This relationship is so meaningful and emotional because the show takes all the time it possibly can to focus on them as a couple. It doesn’t just stop after they get together in order to try and add more drama. Speaking of which…

No Break Up- There is no weird misunderstanding that leads to a dramatic break up here! There are misunderstandings between the couple, but they actually talk them through. (Gasp!) And when Ryan finds out that Deokmi’s close friend Eungi has a crush on her, he doesn’t get super angry. In fact, he encourages Deokmi to try not to get too uncomfortable and not to give up the friendship over it. A boyfriend with healthy relationship practices? What??? Ryan also knows that Deokmi is a major fangirl even before they really start dating and he doesn’t let it bug him. In fact, he spends the final episode trying to get concert tickets with her. He recognizes it as a passion of hers and accepts it. And there’s also a point at the end of the show where the show teases you into thinking that he’ll have to move to New York and she’ll have to stay behind. But then they both go because they both find opportunities there. There’s no needless dramatic break-ups here! I promise you, you’re safe. Take a deep breath, I know we’ve all been burnt by K-Dramas before. (I’m looking at you ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’.)

Fangirling- This show is absolutely amazing to anybody who has ever called themselves a fan of any idol group. Because it doesn’t demonize fangirls or fanboys. The show also actually takes the time to explain the difference between healthy fangirls and unhealthy ones. Obviously, the ones that attack Deokmi because they think she’s dating Sian are not healthy. But the show takes time to recognize that groups need fangirls and there’s nothing wrong with fangirling. The few characters that view it as stupid realize that they’re wrong in the end. Because there’s nothing wrong with trying to support other people in the world that you’re passionate about. The show also acknowledges that Deokmi and her friend, Seonjoo, know that groups like this sell romance. They had an entire conversation about that, which I thought was both funny and reflected a lot of the conversations that fangirls are having now. We’ve all known for years that idol groups market themselves as datable people because that kind of thing sells. We aren’t stupid. But there’s nothing harmful about letting yourself fall into that trap but still knowing what’s realistic. Most fangirls (and boys too) balance both, and let’s be honest, we balance it well. This show is nothing but kind to K-Pop fans and the industry itself. I’m grateful to see a portrayal of fans that is so kind and so willing to promote a better understanding of us.

Sian- The K-Pop idol that everyone adores. He’s basically made to be Jungkook from BTS. What I liked about him was that he was humanized. When it comes to showing celebrities in shows that women specifically like, it either goes one of two ways usually. Either he’s the absolute perfect person and there’s nothing flawed about him, or he’s absolutely horrifically terrible and there’s some lesson thrown in there about how women should stop having crushes on people they don’t really know. Which I find ironic because most people, at least at first, develop crushes on people before they really know them. Celebrity or not. Anyways, this was not the portrayal of Sian. Sian was innocently adorable, but also often naive and overly willing to crash into places he shouldn’t be unexpectedly without asking. In other words, he was flawed. You fell in love with him, while also being able to tell that he had an annoying side. One of my favorite scenes of him was when he drunkenly swam across the floor after crashing Ryan’s apartment. It was so cute! The show also created a song from his group ‘White Ocean’. They only created the one song and they used it a few times in the show, but it was actually a pretty good song. It sounded like a signature idol group song and I enjoyed when and where it was used.

The Sub-Plot Romance- This is not your typical sub-plot romance. This actually depicts a young married couple who has to work through issues and falls in love all over again. It’s adorable and I couldn’t get enough of it. Deokmi’s best friend Seonjoo is married to her husband Seungmin and they have a young son together named Geonwoo. Seonjoo begins the drama a bit distracted from her married life because she wants go back to having more free time. Then Seungmin publishes an article depicting fangirls as insane in order to receive a promotion at work, and they almost divorce over this article. And you can see why, because Seonjoo is also a fan of Sian. By publishing this article, Seonjoo feels both betrayed and like her husband doesn’t actually understand her. Seungmin immediately notices his mistake and seeks to rectify the situation by showing her that he supports her passions. And Seonjoo remembers what it was like to fall in love with him and notes that he basically became her very own idol. The process of them falling back in love after so much time is adorable and feels very real. It is one of the most unique takes on drama sub-plot romances that I’ve ever seen, and it really did pay off.

Sindy- I was not prepared to like this character as much as I did by the end of the show. She starts out as a spoiled Sian fan. Her parents are rich and she’s more concerned with getting more followers than she is with the safety of idols or their fans. She later learns the error of her ways and makes a path for herself without her parents or their money. Her storyline takes place in the background and isn’t focused on entirely, because it really didn’t need to be. But it was focused on just enough to show her journey to becoming a more independent person and it was actually pretty inspiring.

The Kissing- I still can’t believe that this has become part of my review categories for shows. But the kissing in this show was romantic and reciprocated. There were no frozen lips to be seen here.

LGBTQ+ Representation- It isn’t much, but it’s there. Ryan and Deokmi go to persuade the friend of an artist who recently passed away to give them his last photography projects in order to honor him. They find out that this friend is actually the former lover of the artist who regrets not being comfortable enough with his identity to fully show his reciprocation of his feelings. I would love to see more of it in other dramas too, but considering this representation is only beginning to be fully explored in South Korean television, I’m glad that it was there.

The Bad:

The Orphan Story- This only is expanded on in the last few episodes, and it really makes me feel as though this show didn’t need the last few episodes. We knew that Ryan had been adopted by parents from the US when he was young, but I didn’t actually feel I needed more of this storyline. A lot of shows depict adopted kids as having these huge dramatic backstories where they eventually find their parents, but I’m a big believer in found family. Your family is who is there for you and who takes care of you when you need it the most. So, I’m never a huge fan of these storylines. And it was shoehorned so oddly in only the last few episodes that I couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t needed. Ryan didn’t need to have a connection towards those paintings or suddenly figure out that Sian was his brother. I actually liked it a lot better when I thought they randomly became good friends. I didn’t need more than that. I would have been totally fine with just focusing on Ryan getting over his past trauma in painting and slowly learning how to paint again. I didn’t feel this drama needed the trope-y plot twists.

Past Connections- I always really dislike when a drama does this. The writers decide that the lead couple needs more of a reason to be together, so decides on a fate storyline where the couple doesn’t remember that they knew each other as kids. Most real-life couples did not know each other as kids, so I’m not sure why dramas feature so much of this trope. I would much rather have the main characters be drawn together entirely because of personality than part of it being because they had a previous connection. I just want to focus on their connection now.

Random Death- In the second to last episode it’s revealed that Deokmi had a little brother that died in a car accident when she was younger. This plot point (that is not at all focused on) is used to explain why Deokmi didn’t have any childhood memories of Ryan and to explain why Deokmi’s Mom couldn’t have taken care of Ryan when he was separated from his birth mother. They didn’t need this at all. Most people don’t have clear memories of their childhood and they could have easily said that Deokmi’s parents didn’t have the financial stability to take care of another child. Especially because they had already taken in a child that wasn’t their own. This plot point was shoehorned so badly into the story that it was almost nonsensical. I can’t see why this was added in. It was just further proof to me that the last few episodes of this show weren’t really needed.

The Second Leads- Both of the main characters get a potential second romantic interest, and I didn’t like either character. Eungi’s interest in Deokmi was kind of gross to me considering they were raised together by the same parents and Eungi even considers her parents his as well. It really did feel like incest. And every time the story focused on him, it was literally nothing but him moping over the fact that Deokmi wasn’t interested in him. He even gave away the fake relationship secret to an untrustworthy party because he was frustrated. To top all of this off, he was not supportive of her fangirling at all. Definitely, not my favorite. Dain, who was Ryan’s friend, was even more of a jerk when she had a romantic interest in Ryan. She tried to make it seem like Ryan wasn’t interested in Deokmi, which Ryan thankfully quickly settled. She never seems to learn from her mistakes either. I just wasn’t impressed with either of these characters. I suffer from second lead syndrome a lot (and I mean a lot), but this was not a drama where that applied.

‘White Ocean’- This is the group that Sian is a part of. I wish it would have focused on fans of members that weren’t just Sian, even if they didn’t appear. I just would have liked ‘White Ocean’ as a whole to be mentioned more. We don’t want to promote solo stan behavior.

I actually really loved this drama. There was so much that it did well and some of the things it covered were things that I’ve always wanted to see in a drama. Like the extremely understanding and healthy relationship and the portrayal of fans of idol groups. Maybe in a re-watch I would skip the last few episodes, but I don’t think that would take away from my over-all enjoyment of the series. I loved this so much and I highly recommend it to K-Pop idol group fans. This drama seeks to make fans feel validated and it definitely succeeds. Go watch it if you haven’t!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Sci-Fi/ Superheroes: ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Trailer Reaction

Screenshot of McKenna Grace in the ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ trailer. Copyright goes to Columbia Pictures.

Hey! Hallie here!

If you’ve followed this blog for a bit you know that I’m a huge ‘Ghostbusters’ fan. Quotes from the movies fill my vocabulary, I gush about the video game as often as possible, and the comics and cartoons are extremely comforting to me. I’ve been anticipating this film since it was first announced and the waiting, as uncontrollable circumstances pushed this movie back further and further, has been insane. I was over the moon when we got both a full trailer and a release date yesterday. This movie is now being released November 11th! With some people speculating that circumstances could have pushed this movie back as far as summer of 2022, I’m ecstatic that we’ll be able to see this movie this year. And this trailer promises a lot to love once we get to finally sit down and watch the film. There’s so much I want to talk about, so let’s get into this!

The Story:

As the synopsis of the movie describes, ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ follows Callie, a single mother attempting to raise her two children, 15-year-old Trevor and 12-year-old Phoebe. Phoebe has been taking the spotlight for the majority of the content we’ve seen so far, and this trailer is no different. It starts with Callie speaking to Mr. Grooberson, a local teacher, about her struggles as a single mother. She notes that she can’t quite reach Phoebe in the same way she can connect to Trevor. As a response, Mr. Grooberson notes Phoebe’s awkwardness while the trailer shows us Phoebe getting bullied by some local kids, likely a result of her shown obsession with science. While Trevor goes to spend some time with friends at the site of a local mine, he explains that the family is broke and, because of this, has been forced to move into a rundown farmhouse his mother’s estranged father left their family. Then our first ‘Ghostbusters’ veteran appears! Janine is back and, given the way she’s speaking about Phoebe and Trevor’s mysterious grandfather, she seems to have spent a lot of time with him. She notes that he wasn’t the type to enjoy a relaxing home life and, as a result, left his daughter and her children with very little. Except, of course, a very familiar car. The Ecto-1 looks a bit run down, but it’s obviously been cared for to some extent because Trevor’s able to get the car functioning pretty well. After this Mr. Grooberson lays out our main problem. The entire town is shaking even though there’s no logical cause for earthquakes. And then ghosts erupt from the mine Trevor likes to hang around. We only get to see Phoebe suit up to fight these new ghosts in this trailer, but we know we’re going to see quite a few people suiting up in this movie. This set up is really interesting and I can’t wait to see how it plays out!

Nostalgia:

Jason Reitman has had his lips sealed about who this grandfather character is, but the trailers have already given it away. Our first teaser showed the family finding old Ghostbusters suits with the name “Spengler” across the front. In this full trailer, Phoebe says “Egon came out here for a reason” while the trailer shows her doing research on the Ghostbusters. Also, who else would keep such a close relationship with Janine? (Please don’t say Louis Tully. I’m trying to forget that happened.) In other words, Egon is obviously Callie’s estranged father and the grandfather of Phoebe and Trevor. That certainly explains why Phoebe looks so much like him. Because this family is moving into Egon’s house we get to see some memorabilia right away. Phoebe solves a puzzle in the floor and finds a ghost trap, and an old photograph of the four original Ghostbusters can be seen sitting amongst some books. Later on, Phoebe finds the original Ghostbusters ad, the one we see in the first movie, on YouTube. While the audio from the ad plays we get to see a P.K.E. Meter, the horrifyingly adorable mini Stay-Pufts we had the pleasure of watching cook each other a little while ago, and some doomsday supernatural occurrences that are very reminiscent of the first movie. Among the supernatural beings invading the town is what looks like a Terror Dog (Think Keymaster and Gatekeeper). At the very end of the trailer we finally get to see the Ecto-1 in action. The sound of the siren is easily recognizable, but the seat that swings out of the car is an undeniably awesome new addition. It’s also very satisfying to see Phoebe wrangle a ghost in a capture stream. But the best part of it all? Ray answering the phone at Ray’s Occult Books! He’s still in business and it seems he and the other guys are ready to step back in! I’m so excited!

The Pushback:

This trailer has generated a mostly positive response from fans, but I’ve seen a few concerns. The first is that this movie doesn’t look funny enough. I’ve even seen people go so far as to say that the epic light the trailer shines on references to the first film is an attempt to pay tribute to a movie that doesn’t exist. I think these concerns, to be blunt, are ignorant. Firstly, ‘Ghostbusters’ is a comedy, yes. But why does that mean ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ has to be a comedy? I don’t doubt that this movie will have comedy in it. If it wasn’t going to, why hire Paul Rudd? But ‘Ghostbusters’ has proven time and time again that it’s perfectly comfortable leaning more into a thriller/adventure storyline. I’d argue that the video game leans further towards thriller/adventure for the majority of its story. And with the sheer amount of storylines ‘Ghostbusters’ has tackled in comics and cartoons alone, it’s become an extremely versatile franchise. ‘Ghostbusters’ isn’t just a light, fluffy comedy. It tackles multiple genres just in the first film and it has tons of lore to explore. I’ve also seen some say that this movie feels like it’s relying too much on nostalgia. Firstly, this is a trailer. A trailer is going to rely on nostalgia to reel in fans. That doesn’t mean that we won’t get plenty of new things to enjoy once the movie comes around. Secondly, ‘Ghostbusters’ has been trying to extend itself into a franchise for a very, very long time. This movie is obviously trying to connect itself to the past movies in order to set up a story that could continue developing in the future. And, as someone who would love to see ‘Ghostbusters’ extend into a franchise, I don’t see a problem with that. In other words, just let ‘Ghostbusters’ fans be happy. We’ve been excited for this movie for a long time now.

This trailer makes me so happy. I love seeing a movie build off of the original storyline of its predecessors and still give us new things to enjoy. I’m so excited to see more women picking up proton packs and facing off against ghosts. I’m also excited to see the original busters joining back in. And I love that this film is paying tribute to the late, great, Harold Ramis. The series is truly nothing without him and this film aims to include Egon as much as possible despite his absence. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I have very good feelings about this movie. And if you were expecting me to talk about the 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ in this post, this is all you’re getting. I’m not starting up that discourse here. Right now I’m just going to live in the good mood this trailer put me in.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop: K/DA

Promotional image of (from left) Kai’sa, Akali, Seraphine, Ahri, and Evelynn. Copyright goes to ‘League of Legends’ and ‘Riot Games’.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Of course, with my interest in K-Pop and animated franchises it was only a matter of time until I became acquainted with K/DA. Recently, I’ve been looking into supporting and becoming a fan of female gaming characters that aren’t from Overwatch. I’ve made a couple posts about D.Va in the past, and then recently all of the allegations about Blizzard Entertainment hit. And while it’s pretty clear that many of the things detailed in those allegations happen in many companies in the gaming industry, it still doesn’t excuse Blizzard’s reaction to all of this. Women have been treated awfully in gaming communities, both behind the scenes and for simply gaming in general, for ages. It’s simply atrocious and completely sexist. So, I decided to look at more female driven projects that gaming companies have done that have more women behind the scenes. And K/DA being a product of ‘League of Legends’ is a perfect example of a female driven gaming marketing with plenty of women also behind the scenes. What’s more, they are actually created to be a K-Pop group. Can you tell why I’m excited? This ticks off so many boxes of so many of the things that I love! So let’s get into what makes this particular group stand out.

Virtual Band:

A lot of people are hesitant when it comes to virtual bands or virtual musical groups. These all consist of animated and fictional characters that do not exist, but still put out music. I can see why people are a little afraid. If you take people out of music you take the soul out of it. I think that’s why I have personally always been hesitant to become a fan of things like Vocaloid, for example. But I have always been fully supportive of actual bands or groups using fictional characters to switch out people behind the scenes and switch out the sound of the music sometimes too. This is most famously done in the group ‘Gorillaz’, which consists of one or two major members who are in charge that switch out other members in the group and front as the same four animated characters the entire time. Because all of this is being handled and done by actual people, this is a concept that I’m all for. And I think being a previous fan of ‘Gorillaz’ is really what made me less hesitant to like K/DA.

The Making:

K/DA consists of four characters, two of which are usually voiced by two of the members of ‘G-Idle’ and two who are voiced by American singers and songwriters. In one of their most recent releases they also brought in a Chinese singer. While the company refers to this as K-Pop, this groups seems to have more international implications to it. But yes, their sound is definitely based in K-Pop. On a different occasion, some of the characters were voiced by the members of the girl group ‘Twice’. And most recently the American singers have changed. This allows a lot of people to participate in the group without having to actually switch out members. And all of the virtual members have personalities of their own. During interviews they hire actual voice actresses to voice the girls instead of celebrities, which is a move I love. With the voice acting industry starting to have less jobs for actual voice artists because of the mass hiring of A-list celebrities in those roles instead, it’s amazing that they are also including voice actresses in on this. There are so many women behind the scenes working on this group. Women were also consulted on which characters should be a part of the group and what their personalities should be. ‘League of Legends’ really did consult women every step of the way in this process since they were creating a girl group. And, to top all of this off, when you see the virtual avatars of the characters performing, they are also based off of the real performers. All of the performers voicing them singing-wise, also do the choreography for them using motion capture. All of this has a human hand in it, there’s nothing that they tried to skip over when it comes to quality.

The Members:

Here we go! Remember when I said all of the members have their own personalities despite being voiced by different people at different times? This is what I was talking about!

Ahri- She is the leader, main vocalist, and center of the group. A nine-tailed fox with blonde and pink hair who has a high interest in fashion. She enjoys tea and just about everything in the fashion design world, and is one of the more outspoken members in interviews. The singing voice for her is done by G-Idle’s Miyeon as well as members of ‘Twice’ and her voice actress is usually Laura Post.

Evelynn- A lead vocalist who is known for her rich vocals and creepy looks. She definitely has more of a bad attitude and she has been seen serially dating many celebrity men who are suddenly never heard from again. The reason why she hasn’t debuted before this is because she finds it difficult to get along with people. Her singing voice is usually Madison Beer, but she has also been taken over by Kim Petras and, most recently, Bea Miller. Her voice actress is Mara Junot.

Kai’sa- She is the main dancer and vocalist for the group with a more punk look. Seriously, her major role is dancing and choreography and she is passionate about those things. She’s also the quietest member of the group and more likely to keep to herself. She is a world traveller and can speak many languages as well. Her singing voices are Jaira Burns, Wolftyla, Aluna, and Bekuh BOOM. Her voice actress is Natasha Loring.

Akali- She is the main rapper, lead dancer, vocalist, and the wild-haired maknae. She is definitely most known for her rap. She’s the most popular member of the group and the most outspoken during interviews. She often mixes her experiences with martial arts and her experiences with rap to create her sounds and performances for MV’s. Akali is also a gamer. Her singing voice is Soyeon from G-Idle and her voice actress is either Laura Bailey or, more recently, Krizia Bajos.

Seraphine- This is the character that they seem to be bringing on if they need guests, and I love her so much. She most popularly appeared in “More”, and has done several covers of K/DA songs by herself. She’s an influencer with a sweet and cute personality and look, who wants to become a K-Pop star one day. Maybe K/DA could be her way in? I guess we’ll have to see if they bring her back. Her singing voice is done by Lexie Liu, a Chinese singer, in the single “More” and Jasmine Clarke on other occasions. Her voice actress is Michele Panu.

The Music:

They haven’t had many releases yet, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of what they have released. Their music videos in particular are super well done. My favorite song is “More” though I also highly recommend “POP/STARS”. They definitely have a more badass vibe than anything else and their songs really reflect that.

This group has performed live with the singers performing alongside images of their characters for events. And these characters are actually playable in “League of Legends’, though some of these characters are more controversial in gameplay than others. Each character has a unique personality that also ties into the game. So if you’re a gamer who likes the group as a K-Pop group, you can play as your favorite member in the game too. While there are some people who are unsure about this move from the company, I think it’s amazing. I love that they created a massively female driven project in an industry that is notoriously unkind to women. Women should not be asked useless questions to prove that they have actually played a game by men who assume that women couldn’t possibly understand. And women should not be treated like objects in the workplace of this same industry. I think having a female project done in conjunction with major gaming is a long time coming, and I hope to see more of it in the future.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop: MONSTA X Dropped “Kiss or Death”!

Promotional image of Chae Hyungwon, Yoo Kihyun, Im Changkyun, Lee Minhyuk, Lee Jooheon, and Sohn Hyunwoo. Copyright goes to MONSTA X and Starship Entertainment.

Hey! Hallie here!

MONSTA X just dropped “Kiss or Death” and its music video! And for those who are already missing Shownu, he’s absolutely in this song and rocking center in the choreography. This song is really good, but if you haven’t seen the MV yet I don’t exactly blame you. While a few previews of this music video were released on YouTube, the only place you can watch the full thing is on the Universe app. And this arrangement sparked a lot of confusion. If you’re not able to access the Universe app, I sympathize with you. It’s really frustrating that the MV is exclusive to only one app. (I’m also not telling you to find a fan upload of the music video on Youtube, so long as you support the song in other ways, but I’m not NOT telling you that.) In any case, I’ll be going over the song and the MV in detail, so if you want to be surprised, push off reading this until you’ve enjoyed “Kiss or Death” to the fullest extent. You ready? Let’s get into this.

The Song:

The first thing I want to commend this song for is line distribution. While MONSTA X isn’t the worst at giving everyone their time to shine in songs, Minhyuk and Hyungwon often feel like they’re being given slivers compared to some of the other members. I didn’t feel that in this song at all. Minhyuk and Hyungwon both get hard-hitting moments just before the chorus and their voices really shine. Minhyuk has a nice sweet sound that makes his piece addictive while Hyungwon has a surprisingly deep register that adds a lot of depth to his. Kihyun and Shownu team up for the extremely catchy chorus. Kihyun is always worth watching out for, for the strength of his voice alone. He’s honestly one of the best singers in the industry right now. Shownu always surprises me with how light his register is. The lightness is really well suited to balance out Kihyun. Lastly, Joohoney and I.M get several moments to stand out. The song starts out immediately with Joohoney. You know a song’s about to be good when you hear Joohoney right out of the gate. He’s very good at setting the tone, especially for higher energy songs. And, as usual, I.M’s deep voice suits his rap style so well that you can’t help but fall in love with him. As for the lyrics, they go well with the themes MONSTA X usually tackles. The song conveys a desperation for someone they find attractive, which can definitely be sensed by the strength of the chorus. The song overall has an incredible beat and energy that makes you want to listen to it over and over again. I can’t find anything to criticize. It’s a really solid MONSTA X song.

The MV:

This music video goes for some really fun story elements that I love seeing in anything, let alone MVs. The video starts out with an old fashioned opening credits sequence that leads right into a train. With the suits the guys are wearing, the constant shots to a grainy black and white look, and the dated look of the train, it really feels like ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. Joohoney’s up first, and while I really like the silhouette of his Sherlock-looking coat, I can’t get over the much more modern, form-fitting black outfit we see in other shots. I.M gets some really nice looking vests for both of his outfits during his part of the MV and he looks incredible in both of them. Between Joohoney’s camera and I.M tacking up various articles around his compartment, we already know by this point that the two are up to something. After this Minhyuk enters the scene with a plaid, button-down coat that makes him look very dapper. His cutaway shots aren’t to a compartment, but to a misty area where we get to see him dance in a silver-detailed vest and white dress shirt. Consider me deceased. Hyungwon gets a darker coat and some really interesting patterns on his vest that make him very striking in this music video. I have to tip my hat off to Hyungwon here. Seeing him dance in that vest definitely bias wrecked me a bit. Kihyun gets to stay in his secondary outfit for this sequence which means we get to stare at him in a black vest with various leather straps. Yeah. The choreography also kicks in with Kihyun and I really like the quick pace of this choreo. MONSTA X isn’t generally known for their choreography, but I really like what we got in this MV. Speaking of leather straps. You thought Kihyun had some? Well, Shownu is basically in a harness. MONSTA X knows what we want and they deliver every time.

After the chorus we start seeing some more futuristic elements introduced in the video. Minhyuk, and later Hyungwon, sits at the top of the train and we see what looks like Saturn and tons of stars behind him. From this imagery we discover the boys are from a future where time travel is possible. For the sterile Sci-Fi elements we see afterwards, we get more black, form-fitting outfits! A lot of members share similar elements in their outfits here. Shownu and Kihyun wear jackets with high necks and misplaced zippers that serve both the purpose of looking good and looking futuristic. Hyungwon and Minhyuk wear dress coats with extra jewelry to give them a modern look. As for the other two, I.M rocks extra black accessories that suit him very well while Joohoney gets a studded belt and collar. Here we also get clearer looks of the old fashioned suits Shownu and Kihyun wear. I like the look of the overlapping collar on Kihyun’s jacket and I don’t think much can beat seeing Shownu in an old-fashioned three-piece suit. It was nice to see a bit more of that here. The MV ends with all of the members being alerted of a time-warp that seems distressing to all of them, prompting them to escape from the train. This definitely felt like one of their most cinematic music videos and they pulled it off better than I could have ever imagined. I’d love to see more of this in the future!

That’s it! While the MV situation might have confused some, I’d still say look into watching this on the Universe app if you can. It supports the boys and gives you the best look at this MV. Trust me, it’s worth it. But either way, I think we can all agree that MONSTA X killed it with this release. It showcases MONSTA X at their best and gives us some Shownu so we don’t have to miss him too much yet. Between the vocals, the beat, and the incredible choreography, I can’t stop falling in love with “Kiss or Death”.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

International Dramas: ‘Lovestruck in the City’

Promotional image of (left) Ji Changwook and (right) Kim Jiwon. Copyright goes to KakaoTV and Netflix.

Hi! It’s Annie!

After everything that happened with ‘Imitation’, I knew that I wanted to start looking into K-Dramas that I might really like and that I could do positive reviews about. Because, as much as I loved watching ATEEZ members in their acting debuts, that show was a mess. After randomly looking up some K-Dramas, I came across this one and was kind of intrigued by its simple but lighthearted premise. It’s a drama that follows six Koreans and their dating lives in a part confessional-style and part third-person-drama sort of way. It helps connect the characters to each other. And one thing that I have to say about this drama right off the bat is that it had incredible balance. It knew which characters needed screen-time and when. And it was more focused with having one central plot that it focused on more than the others. But over all of that, it was just incredibly cute. Definitely the type of K-Drama that I want to be watching right now. That’s not to say that this drama won’t make you cry, because it definitely will, but it’s in the best way. That’s enough about that, I’m just going to get into it. Instead of focusing on good or bad, I’m going to share my thoughts on each storyline individually because there’s really not a lot of bad for me to talk about in this show. This show is impossible to talk about without MAJOR SPOILERS so that’s your warning.

Park Jaewon and Lee Euno (Yoon Seona):

General Premise- This is the heart of the show and the storyline that will steal your attention and your heart. At the very beginning it is revealed that Park Jaewon is hung up on a girl named Yoon Seona he met at the beach over vacation. They only dated for two months, but by the end of these two months it is clear that he is very much in love with her. They were supposed to meet up after he had to abruptly leave for his job, but she never showed up at the meeting place. Because he left her with his prized cameras, he has been drunkenly showing up at the police department declaring that she is a camera thief in an attempt to find her and soberly going to the meeting spot every week just in case she forgot the exact date. Lee Euno is struggling to start her own business after her life was turned upside down when her fiancee left her and she was fired from her job. As the show starts out with showing the beach romance, the audience knows that Lee Euno is actually Yoon Seona throughout the entirety of the show. She was also in love with Jaewon, but Yoon Seona was an alias she came up with in order to become someone else and be a less boring person as she believed that this was why she was dumped and fired. Euno knows that Jaewon actually knows some of her closest friends and spends much of the series trying to dodge him despite the fact that she’s still in love with him and knows he’s looking for her.

Flawed Characters- This show is never afraid to tackle flawed characters. Jaewon considers himself cool and collected and never views himself as the type to be clingy. But his obsession with finding Euno proves this wrong and leads him to becoming an alcoholic, which is something he struggles with throughout the show. Euno doesn’t believe she knows who she is as a person and, because of this, continuously tries to lie to the people closest to her about her personal life. She doesn’t want to be the old version of herself that she perceives as being boring, but she also acknowledges that she’s not the completely carefree version of herself that she showed Jaewon. These flaws are something that both of these characters have to overcome. The show never treats them as acceptable or healthy, they add them as part of their character development. Jaewon has to figure out how to let go of people and let them come to their own conclusions while Euno discovers that she’s been herself this entire time. Both are such important lessons and they are taught by the show so incredibly well. As a young person who is still not completely sure who I am, I absolutely sobbed during the scene where Euno finally opened up to Jaewon and Jaewon understood and said they’d find out who she was together. They never tried to fix each other at the end either. They just offered each other unwavering support, which is something that I haven’t seen done enough in television in general.

The Emotion- When these characters feel something strongly, you can bet that you as the audience will as well. There’s a scene where Jaewon is drunk and Euno visits him after she sees him waiting for her at the meeting spot. As soon as Euno sees the state that Jaewon is in she begins to sob, and Jaewon believes that Euno is a dream because of his drunken state but still begs her not to leave him. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet a person who didn’t sob while watching this scene. It is entirely gut-wrenching and pulls at your heart in all the best ways. Seriously, this drama is good for if you need a good cry.

The Romance- Because this drama convincingly shows you two different stages of this relationship, it already feels familiar and full of chemistry from the beginning of the entire series. And it’s not as lighthearted as some other romances you might see. There’s a certain amount of rawness and desperation in this that brings out both the best and the worst of both characters. And when they finally get together at the end, it is entirely deserved. They have both worked on themselves and the relationship enough to know that they can be comfortable together. These writers seriously knew that they needed enough relationship development as well as singular development to make this work. And the beach setting at the beginning of this drama is also everything you’ve ever wanted out of a vacation. Literally everything about this relationship is romantic because it feels earned.

Oh Seonyeong and Kang Geon:

General Premise- Oh Seonyeong is a gym teacher at a High School and a serial dater who often breaks up with her boyfriends to see if they love her enough and forcibly takes back everything she’s ever bought them. Kang Geon is purposefully single after his last messy break up, that you realize was with Seonyeong as the series goes on. They both discover that they still love each other and attempt to patch up the hurt feelings of their past break up.

Girl Friends- One of the major reasons why Seonyeong breaks up with Geon is because he has two close female friends from his early school days. One is Euno and the other is Rini (who I’ll talk about later). They all view each other as siblings, but that’s not how it looks on the outside to some people. Especially when it comes to Euno who is his roommate. While this is something that Seonyeong learns to accept, I did find it interesting how unacceptable it was to romantic partners for their partner to have a friend of the opposite sex. I live in California where having friends of all genders no matter how you identify is really common and generally not viewed as an issue. I’ve had several close guy friends throughout my life and I’ve never viewed any one of them romantically at any point in our friendship. I just found this part of the storyline interesting, because it definitely shows a cultural difference that I had no idea existed.

The Romance- To be honest, there’s not much of a romance here. You see their messy break up and then you see them patch things together as friends at first. The show leaves it up to the audience to decide whether or not Seonyeong takes Geon up on his offer to give them another shot as a couple. Though, let’s be honest, she probably does. But I think that lack of closure is ok. It showed to me that the characters wanted to take things more slowly, which I appreciated and was, personally, all of the closure I needed. Their form of romance is admitting the flaws in their relationship and trying to form some sort of footing again. Which was such a mature move for this show.

Seo Rini and Choi Kyeongjun:

General Premise- Kyeongjun is the colleague of Jaewon and is also his cousin who is continuously dealing with the pitfalls of his cousin’s alcoholism. He’s also in a long-term relationship with Rini who is always running low on cash and doesn’t seem to have any motivation to have anything other than a part-time job, which frustrates and worries Kyeongjun. Rini is a sweet and independent woman who doesn’t want Kyeongjun to spend any money on her and doesn’t want to get a job that isn’t part-time because she likes the freedom. Though their relationship seems very happy and wholesome, you spend the entire show watching it decline.

The Romance- Through the first half of the show it is clear that these two are in a happy relationship with each other. The only pitfall seems to be Kyeongjun’s slight annoyance at Rini’s determination to save as much money as possible. But this doesn’t last. Despite the utterly wholesome and comfortable nature of their relationship, more and more flaws are revealed as the series goes on.

The Break-Up- Yes, at the end of the series they break up. Rini reveals that she never wants to have a steady job and that her mother tells everyone she is her niece because she is ashamed of her. This comes out after Kyeongjun lies and tells his uncle that Rini is a teacher rather than a part-time worker. Rini is sick of people lying about her and breaks up with him. And what sucks about this break up is that they are both right. Rini is consistently refusing Kyongjun’s help with absolutely everything and doesn’t take his worries into consideration. Kyeonjun is lying about her job because he’s ashamed of it and doesn’t take her wants into consideration. At the end, it seems like their break up, at least at the time, is probably for the best. Though it is sad. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they want a second season so that these characters can get back together, but I can’t say that I agree. I think that this show was smartly trying to show that not every relationship ends happily.

Oh Dongsik and Haena:

This is not a fully developed relationship in the show and actually, most of this happens in the last episode. Firstly, Minho of Shinee plays Dongsik, who is a very sweet, but not always so bright, cop. Haena is a famous actress who we see in the last episode trying to escape a set where she is being forced to have her first kiss with an offensive actor on the show she’s filming. Throughout the series we see Dongsik stare longingly at photos of Haena that are on billboards in the city. We don’t know that he knows her until she escapes to his house and celebrates his birthday with him. He is very stern to her and treats her much like a little sister, and it is implied that they are possibly childhood friends. But it is clear that he doesn’t see her as a little sister and is attempting to mask his feelings for her. She is much more open about her feelings. When she has to return to set at the end of the night she requests a minute of his time and uses this minute to kiss him; getting her first kiss with someone she actually likes instead of the actor. While this is only in one episode, it’s an excellent set-up to what could be a second season (I hope). I would personally love to see a second season follow a storyline with these two and other characters that we haven’t met yet!

And that’s my review! Obviously, I really love this series and would love for there to be a second season. Though, as I said, I would prefer the next season to be about the couple that was just set up and other characters we haven’t met instead of the characters already focused on. I think continuously making seasons like this could make for an absolutely amazing and timeless show. And this first season was already written amazingly and already feels timeless. I highly highly recommend this show to literally anyone; it is cute and it is guaranteed to get you in your feelings. I know I’ll return to this show someday. It has to be one of my favorite dramas that I’ve ever watched!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie