K-Pop and K-Dramas:J-Hope is Fine, Guys

Promotional image of Jung Hoseok (J-Hope). Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

Today, while I was scrolling through Twitter, I found two hashtags trending that confused me. The most popular of the hashtags was #wewantmorejhope and #Give_jhope_more. Looking into these hashtags I’m seeing more of an argument than any actual effort to get J-Hope more time in songs. One side of the argument, which makes up the people who started these hashtags in the first place, feels that J-Hope is being wronged by the amount of time he received specifically in “Butter”. Amongst these people you see fingers being pointed at HYBE, other members of BTS, and even fans who don’t give the Hyung line, specifically J-Hope, enough attention. On the other side of the argument you can see a lot of fans ridiculing these arguments, but not because they dislike J-Hope in any way. These fans are quick to point out that the members of BTS have said, multiple times, that part of their song-making process is deciding who gets what part of the song. In other words, HYBE has very little to do with which members sing which parts of the songs and often the members themselves choose exactly what they want to do. Here you also see the argument that the fans who started these hashtags are solo stans. Obviously facts, and BTS themselves, seem to support one side of the argument more than the other. But why do so many feel this way about J-Hope’s appearance in “Butter” and why is it important to shut down this behavior?

Why was J-Hope’s appearance in “Butter” frustrating?:

Honestly, as a J-Hope bias, I definitely found myself thinking “Where’s Hobi?” halfway through my first viewing of the “Butter” music video. It wasn’t that he wasn’t there. It was that, after we saw the teaser with Hoseok standing center, it was disappointing to see that Hoseok wasn’t actually a center for the music video. Of course, when the end of the music video rolled around I was more than satisfied. But I do have to admit that I can partially see where these fans are coming from. The members that are part of the Hyung line definitely get less attention than the members that are part of the Maknae line. Sometimes when fans who bias a member of the Hyung line see them getting less time to shine in scenarios like these, they can get protective. They want to make sure that these members get just as much time to show off their skills as everyone else does. And is that wrong?

Infantilization:

Well…yes. In many cases, like this one, protective behavior over an idol is very wrong. It perpetuates the idea that idols can’t take care of themselves or stand up for themselves in the workplace. But they are grown adults. They aren’t children who need their hands held by the fans every step of the way. They are adult men who have their own voices and opinions. And especially in BTS, their voices and opinions are valued enough that we don’t have to worry about these things at all. As I said above, HYBE has been letting BTS decide who does what in each song for a long time now. While BTS has a bit less to do with the process of making their English songs, Namjoon still wrote all of the raps for “Butter” and ensured that he included everything every member of the rap line wanted in their verse. J-Hope made his voice heard when it came to his parts in “Butter”. Even if you wish he had more in the song, respect Hoseok’s decision to move forward with the verse he has now.

Solo Stans:

While I definitely don’t think everyone who has been trending these things are solo stans, it’s important to make sure you aren’t exhibiting solo stan behavior. If you’re pointing a finger at other members of BTS for “stealing” time away from Hoseok, hate to break it to you, but that is textbook solo stan behavior. You can be frustrated that Hoseok got less time in the music video than you thought, but if you’re hating on Jungkook for getting more time, you need to stop. Jungkook did not make any sort of purposeful move to snub Hoseok of screen time in the “Butter” music video. Neither did any of the other members. Appreciate the amazing things we saw from all of the members in “Butter”, regardless of whether or not you wish Hoseok was featured more prominently.

Honestly, I’m pretty satisfied with what we got. In “Dynamite” we didn’t get any verses from the rap line at all, mostly because the writers weren’t exactly sure how the rapping would work in an English song. I’m glad they figured it out for “Butter” and let Namjoon take the reins on making sure everyone’s verse was the way they wanted it. Also, Hoseok got some excellent solo shots and even filled the role of the ending fairy. He was given plenty to enjoy. So yes, I’m still waiting for a music video where we can see Hobi centering. But “Butter” isn’t bad because Hoseok didn’t center for it. In fact, can we talk about how much time Jin got to center? That was amazing! “Butter” is great the way it is. We all need to appreciate the fact that “Butter” was heavily influenced by the decisions of all of the members, including Hoseok, and they knew what was best for themselves and the song.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Fan Sign Etiquette

Image of Park Jimin at a fan sign event. Copyright goes to the tireless Jimin fancam websites and the countless edits made by ARMYs. In other words, I do not own this picture.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I should really prelude this by saying that I have never been to a fan sign. For the most part, fan signs take place in South Korea and most of my love of K-pop happened during quarantine. So, other than online fan signs, there really wasn’t much going on. I also want to state here that as the popularity of K-pop groups grow, fan signs are dying out. And it’s for the exact same reason that we don’t have any events like this in the US. Protection. In places like fan signs it becomes much more difficult to get into them as the groups gain a bigger audience. Not only that, situations like this create a face-to-face experience between the idols and fans which makes the idols more likely to be attacked. This is the main reason why BTS no longer has fan signs and probably never will again. I apologize if that makes you sad, trust me, I’m a little disappointed too. But I definitely understand and support this decision. Because while most of the fans of a specific group might be incredibly kind, there will always be fans out there who don’t consider the safety of their idols. And this is why we need to talk about fan sign etiquette. Because many of these groups will only post behavioral rules such as “you are not allowed to ask personal information” and not much else. And there should be more rules attached here. To many this may seem like common sense, but I think we need to make sure we talk about these.

No Roleplaying:

I’m hoping that most of you looked at that line I just wrote above and thought it sounded absolutely crazy. This sounded crazy to me at first too. I thought there was no way that there are fans out there who ask their idols to role play during a fan sign. First of all, that’s really uncomfortable and second of all, I thought the entire purpose was to meet your idol in real life. Making them act like something they aren’t kind of defeats the purpose of that. But I think the biggest issue here is how much this breaks barriers with the idol and veers off into strange territory. The first example I’ve seen of this was a fan posting a video of themselves interacting with San in an online fan meet up with ATEEZ. In this video she asks San to pretend to be her son and to pretend like Hongjoong is his father. That’s really really creepy. San didn’t dispute this but didn’t exactly go along either. San is the type of person who will feel bad saying no to a fan, and I hope he eventually is comfortable with the knowledge that it’s ok to say that you’re uncomfortable to anyone over anything. It was clear that San was uncomfortable throughout this video and eventually Hongjoong, who was sitting next to San, realized that San was so uncomfortable and peeked his head in to see what was going on. Of course, this effectively ended the current train of conversation. Watching that video made me physically sick. Please note that idols are humans too, they are not your puppets. You can’t just make them do whatever you want them to. Treat them with a little respect guys. Also, serious props to Hongjoong for looking out for his members like that.

No Skipping:

We’ve talked about this on the blog a little bit before, especially in my sister’s post about solo stans. There is NEVER a good reason to skip an idol during a fan sign. It does not matter if your bias is just after the next person and there’s no one your bias is talking to. You still should not skip any member for any reason. I feel a little bit like this is going to fall on deaf ears, because if you even considered skipping a member of a group in a fan sign you are probably a solo stan. Everyone should learn to love and respect each member of a group they support. But this happens far too much. We all know of the infamous fan who asked Taehyung in an old BTS fan sign if she could skip him. More recently we’ve heard about this happening a lot to members of groups that aren’t from South Korea originally. For example, the amount of times Yiren has been skipped in Everglow fan signs because she’s Chinese is atrocious. Long story short, if you can’t respect all the members of a group than there’s no way you can respect that group itself. It’s also ridiculous to think that you’ll have more time with your bias if you skip another member. You won’t. Every person gets the same amount of time with every member, it doesn’t matter what kind of time you think you’re “saving”. You are still going to be escorted away after your minute is over.

No Shipping Questions:

I know that shipping is a huge thing in the K-pop world. I personally think that shipping real people together is kind of strange, but I know there are a lot of people who like to do it. This kind of goes back to what I said about making idols uncomfortable. They are there to have a nice genuine conversation with you; not for you to try and fish information out of them to somehow confirm your favorite ship. I know this happens a lot at fan signs and I know that there are a lot of people out there who are convinced that their favorite ship is real. The reality of the situation is, you don’t know for sure. You don’t actually know them. And trying to force them to view things your way could actually make a real friendship awkward because of the narrative you’re trying to force on them. Don’t presume to know what their personal lives are.

No Breaking Physical Boundaries:

Most fan signs do have rules for things like this, but this is still important to mention. I know a lot of people going to fan signs want a hug from their favorite idol. Most of the time, they are not allowed to give you a hug. That is a rule set for their personal safety. Also, please do not try to hold hands with idols who do not offer you their hands first. And especially please do not try to grab the hands of idols who’s hands are not visibly towards you on the table. There are several idols out there with severe social anxiety where unwanted touching could trigger their anxiety. Be mindful of that. I know we’re at a point where people expect to hold hands with their idols at a fan sign because it’s such a common thing, and I don’t think that this should be applicable to every idol. For example, Namjoon has always been notorious for holding hands with fans at fan signs. In earlier signs, Yoongi didn’t do it as much due to his social anxiety. That doesn’t make Yoongi rude in any way, it just means that he’s trying to keep the fan sign as happy and comfortable for himself as it is for you. And literally anyone should have the human decency of being able to decide what their barriers are.

Honestly, all this is to say that when attending a fan sign be kind and courteous to the idols too. They are real people who also completely deserve human decency. Just be genuine, know your boundaries, and don’t be afraid to tell them how much they mean to you. They are not there to be your puppets, they are there to have a friendly and warm conversation with you. Remember to be respectful of them as people. As I said, many fan signs are dying out because of the lack of protection for idols at them. ATEEZ, for example, just recently walked through an airport with no security and protection and were immediately surrounded in a pretty dangerous way. If idols can’t be protected during everyday things like that, it’s difficult to imagine how much protection they can sustainably have at an ever-growing fan sign event. Do I eventually want to go to a fan sign one day? Of course! But I would be much happier knowing that the members of my favorite idol groups are safe. One of the only ways we can try to keep fan signs going is if we all learn how to be respectful at them so that hopefully they can be safer places for idols to attend. If any of the categories that I mentioned above included something you were considering doing at a fan sign, please seriously reconsider. For the sake of the idol and also for the sake of fan signs as a whole. Just treat idols like regular human beings!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS Rolling Stone Interviews Part 2

2019 Summer Package image of Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, and Min Yoongi. Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m still on a “Butter” high and the individual interviews with BTS have been completed, so of course I’m going to keep talking about BTS! These last three interviews promise to be very interesting after what we saw from the first four. Rolling Stone’s collaboration with BTS has been pretty good for something that’s being done by an American interviewer. However, particularly with Jimin’s interview, we saw a few awkward questions or observations that weren’t as great. Hopefully these three are just as refreshingly meaningful as most of the other interviews have been. Let’s get into them!

RM:

Namjoon’s look was a multicolored button down that’s neutral tones matched his at-the-time gray hair. And that pearl bracelet? Gorgeous. His interview immediately started with his observations about his desire to achieve in school and how different his life turned out, just to kickstart the conversation. As usual, Namjoon’s interview was one of the deeper ones. The first question he was asked was about a phrase he had quoted about being unable to be anything but Korean. Namjoon explained that while he listened to a lot of American hip-hop for inspiration, his own culture is his main influence. He also pointed out that a lot of what BTS, and K-pop in general, is doing is a mix between Korean and Western sounds. The interviewer decided to ask specifically about Korean hip-hop and how it’s changed over the years. Namjoon noted that Korean hip-hop has the unique benefit of talking specifically about Korean problems, which is something he can relate to. He did note that Korean and American hip-hop are converging and how that is an interesting thing to balance as an artist. Afterwards Namjoon was asked about being identified as a rapper vs being identified as an idol. The interviewer tried to suggest that idols are the same as “pop stars” which is something I absolutely take issue with. Korean culture is important to the definition of an idol and to try to slap an American title on it is somewhat ignorant. Namjoon took this in stride, addressing the problems they’ve faced pursuing the idea of being pure artists and getting mocked for being idols. Namjoon said that throughout all of the struggles, he’s learned that the boundaries between being a true artist and an idol are actually very slim, and that as long as his work is meaningful to him, it’s important. He also talked about how K-Pop is expanding so much that it feels it’s many different things, which is why BTS feels they are their own genre rather than one that is shifting so often. Finally, he was asked about how nerve-racking it is to think about how their performances have been filmed and spread so they can last for years to come. He confirmed that it makes him work harder and ended with the quote “Life is short. Art is forever.” As always, a very thoughtful ending to a very thoughtful interview.

V:

Taehyung’s look for the cover was a pair of black pants paired with a shirt and coat, both with the same blotchy, white-and-gray tree pattern. They go very well together and the largeness of the coat gives Tae the cozy look he looks so good in. This interview was introduced with a very long description of Taehyung’s sexy voice. Which was so relatable it became one of my favorite interview openings. This interview also noted that singing “Fix You” by Coldplay was Taehyung’s idea. What a genius. On top of all of this, Tae’s first question was about his time on the variety show they had filmed the day before, in which he confessed that he enjoyed it very much but it caused him to sleep very little out of nervousness. Tae then confessed that the interview had had a similar affect on his sleep schedule. The interviewer profusely apologized but Tae was quick to laugh it off. What a cutie. Tae talked a bit about how difficult it is to make a mixtape on his own without the other members to help out, but he also said it’s refreshing to express himself through it. He was asked when he might release it, which can be a very annoying question but, to the interviewers credit, they did acknowledge how much pressure it poses to Tae. Tae said he’s hoping to release it at the end of this year. He was asked about what he’s learned from previous solo-releases, specifically “Sweet Night”, and Tae confessed that it was easier to do because it was for Park Seo-Joon (‘Itaewon Class’ is the drama this is featured in) and also that he wrote it about wanting a good night’s sleep. Someone make this man take a nap. Tae got to gush about his love of Elvis’s songs from his later years, and ended up asking the interviewer if he had any suggestions which was unbelievably adorable. Tae was also asked about the entire “secret member” business, which he initially thought meant he was cut from the group. Tae said he can laugh about it as long as he can mess around with Hitman Bang a bit. His final question was about acting, which he said he might consider again after he turns 30. This interview had so much personality and it was one of the cutest to read!

Suga:

For this interview Yoongi wore a button down with a beautiful blue and orange flower design decorating it. The extra pieces of fabric around the shoulders made it visually interesting and, as always, Yoongi looks amazing with multiple earrings in each ear. This interview started immediately with his shoulder surgery. He said that he still has some physical therapy to do but that he’s feeling much better. He noted that adrenaline often numbed the pain during performances pre-surgery. He was asked about the complex emotions of “First Love”, where he wisely stated that not all aspects of actual first love are positive, and he expressed how important it is for both himself and others to express negative emotions as well as positive ones. When asked about his songwriting process he said that it varies from song to song. He explained that they often decide on a theme first and work freely from there. He specifically starts with the beat, then the melody and rap, and finally lyrics. I loved that the interviewer asked him about his guitar, which he said he was practicing on again. Yoongi evidently hopes to be able to sing and play at the same time in the future. He’s already done a bit of that, and it’s always good, so I can’t wait to see more later on! Yoongi was asked if he regretted spending his youth in a studio, but Yoongi said that he didn’t. He said it gave him the opportunities he has now, though he wishes he would have spent a bit more time resting. Yoongi was interestingly asked if it’s frustrating to know that English fans don’t always get the really meaningful lyrics in their Korean songs. Yoongi simply stated that BTS is trying to write lyrics that foreigners can understand too so more people can relate to their songs. He was asked about his parents initially refusing to understand his desire to rap, which he was very forgiving about and commented that it made him work harder. He ended the interview with the observation that the idea that everyone must evolve helps him stay hungry. Though he thinks the term “hangry” better describes BTS. Man I love Yoongi. As usual, he’s straight-to-the-point and his insights on emotions and mental health speak for themselves.

Those were the final three interviews! While there are definitely things I can criticize about them, they were pretty amazing overall! I would definitely count them among the better interviews BTS has done in America. There is plenty more BTS content to come now that ARMYs like us are swept into the “Butter” craze, but for those who are waiting for some different content, we haven’t forgotten about you! For now, we’re just happily buried in the large amount of BTS content coming our way.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: ‘Imitation’ Episode 3

Screenshot of Jeong Yunho from ‘Imitation’. Copyright goes to KBS2 and Viki.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I feel absolutely awful that I had to take a break from streaming ‘Butter’, but of course I had to review the new episode of ‘Imitation’ as well. Trust me, I’m back to streaming ‘Butter’ now, I am listening to it as I write this. For anyone who doesn’t live in South Korea and doesn’t have access to cable there, this was the first week you had to pay for the new episode of ‘Imitation’ (or else find someplace else to watch it), so I completely understand if you haven’t watched this episode. Still, as I accidentally forgot to mention last time, this review will have SPOILERS. I know my reviews for the last two episodes weren’t necessarily glowing. I can’t say that my opinion has changed too much, but I finally felt some sort of potential for this show. This was definitely my favorite episode so far, but I can’t say I completely enjoyed it either. With those initial comments out of the way, let’s get into it! SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Good:

More Shax- I’m just going to come right out with this one; I love how involved the members of Shax are as side characters. And, again, I’m a little biased because the show is focusing so much on Jongho. He’s seriously in so much more of it than I originally anticipated and he’s absolutely amazing in it. The more Shax we get, the more I really feel connected to the group and it’s members, especially because they’re not only giving us character moments with Ryok. So, I’m really excited to see more of them!

More Sparkling (Kind Of)- So, we barely got to see more of Sparkling in this episode. And I was worried that we wouldn’t get anything at all throughout the entire episode because, except for the appearance of Yoojin in a couple of other scenes earlier, we didn’t see them until the very end. We saw a little more of the rivalry between Yoojin and Hyunoh and that’s definitely picking up a little bit. When performing their new song in front of people from their company they requested that Yoojin become the center instead of Hyunoh who had been center before. Uh oh. We got a little bit more of Seyoung and Minsoo too, but we really haven’t seen as much of those two. The other members of Sparkling other than Yoojin also suddenly disappeared in the last shot of the episode which was strange. But at least we know we’ll finally see the long awaited performance of ‘Diamond’ on the next episode. Finally!

The Side Characters- As always, the side characters absolutely steal this show. Yunho was absolutely adorable as Yoojin in this episode. But more than that, his character was intriguing. We saw his rivalry with Hyunoh as well as the intensity of his training and his character just sucked me in. There’s a depth there that only seems to be explored more as the episodes go on. Yunho or not, this character is the most interesting to me so far. And the epilogue showed his earnest sweetness even more. Second lead syndrome is strong in this show. I also, as always, love Hyunji and Riah. Listening to Riah sing during the recording portion of this episode was amazing. Her voice is great and her sassy relatable nature makes her easily one of the most likable characters in the show. Hyunji is a great support to all of them and I love her cuteness. I did notice that look between Hyunji and Yoojin in this episode though. Foreshadowing anyone?

The Acting- Always amazing and I always have to give all the actors credit for stepping out of their comfort zone with this one. Many of the idols have never acted before and many of these actors have never performed in this way before. And they are all doing excellently!

Ryok- I don’t know what it was about this episode that actually made me warm to this character. He shows an incredible amount of both kindness and responsibility. He said a couple of mean things to Maha at the very end of the episode, but it was all to make her determined to sing her song rather than afraid. This scene seemed to be the equivalent of the acting scene from the comic, and I definitely preferred this by a lot. Ryok did get in trouble with Maha for posting an apology instead of letting her speak, but I really didn’t get Maha’s take on this. Ryok was appealing to his fans because he has the voice to do that. I just didn’t understand why she got so angry. But Ryok won me over this episode from the moment he started dancing with Maha.

The Bad:

Maha- I don’t know what it is but I still find it incredibly difficult to relate to this character or connect to her much. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the actress who is adorable and absolutely doing her best. I think the reason she’s not relatable is because the writing tried to make her too relatable. Instead of making Maha her own character, she starts to feel more and more like a self-insert character for the audience. I feel like this barely works for any kind of media that isn’t books (it sometimes doesn’t work for those either), but there are certain shows and movies that are able to pull it off (rarely). Maha barely has any identifiable personality traits in an effort to make her a blank slate for audiences. And this often just results in her being….a blank slate. It’s even worse seeing this character contrasted with Riah and Hyunji who she’s always with. Both of those characters have so much personality, and it makes Maha as a character feel almost faceless sometimes.

Pacing- Once again, I have to get on the show’s case for the pacing. Everything important in this episode happened in the last half and I sat through the first half of this episode pretty bored. Even when things started to pick up and happen, the episode still had a slow feeling to it. No plot points are made to feel that exciting, it’s just a similar pace for everything. Sometimes it’s difficult to pay attention when you’re kind of zoning out due to the pacing. I like the more slice of life feel and the less over-sensationalized drama. That’s one of the reasons why I liked this episode better. But even when they were using a lot of drama, it still didn’t feel dramatic because of the pacing. They really need to figure out how to give the show a sense of urgency.

La Lima- She’s barely used so far and I’m honestly not sure what her purpose even is at this point. I know Maha’s supposed to look like her, but Maha doesn’t and so far this is actually a very small plot point. Maha dresses to look like her, but she could have dressed to look like anyone with how much this is actually affecting the plot. She could have dressed to look like Ryok and the same things would be happening. I’m just not sure where this is going or what the purpose of this character is among these three groups that we’re already following. I feel like this show would be just as effective without her.

So, there you have it! Some parts of the show are growing on me and there’s enough that I want to keep watching. But, again, most of that has to do with ATEEZ. The plot of this show is moving very slowly and I find it very difficult to connect to the main character. I just hope that maybe it gets a bit better. But there are only nine episodes left so I guess we’ll have to see what happens! Who knows? Maybe all of it will grow on me.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: “Butter” is Out!

Promotional photo of Kim Seokjin, Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook, and Jung Hoseok. Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

I have now watched “Butter” several, several times and there’s so much to talk about. So much. To start out, this music video was insanely good. They all looked absolutely amazing. There is nothing I can criticize here. The song, the lyrics, the vocals, the looks were all impeccable. Honestly, this music video has to be one of my new favorites. I’m just going to get right into this because I’m still freaking out. Let’s freak out together!

The Song: This song was just as catchy as “Dynamite”, if not more. I also found it a bit more satisfying to listen to. Something about the retro beats in the background and the satisfying chorus that compliments each of the vocal line’s voices just hooked me into the song. On top of all of that, this song gave the rap line some time to shine. Instead of the occasional line sung by a rap line member, this song gave each member of the rap line a verse to show off some of their skills. It was something I really missed in “Dynamite” and something I’m so glad to see here. The lyrics are also really great. Apparently RM got a bit more say in this song than in “Dynamite” and it feels more like BTS as a result. Instead of just a feel-good song about having fun, this song is “you love us and we know it”. Which really works for the mistreatment BTS has seen in America. America loves BTS but refuses them respect and acts surprised that they’re so popular to try to cover up how amazing a non-white group is. But obviously, there’s plenty of talented people America likes to gloss over because they aren’t white, and BTS really embraces that. Regardless of the racism that’s still rampant, BTS is rising above it and “Butter” is a song that acknowledges how amazing they know they are and how much they dominate the attention of both fans and haters. It isn’t the diss-track some people wanted, but I think it’s just as good.

The Music Video: There are a lot of iconic moments in this video. So many that I actually went shot by shot through it to catch them all. This music video started out with the black and white look we saw in the teaser. We saw a few really cute scenes of the boys dancing together as well as some really good shots of Jungkook’s hair. One of these shots showed Jungkook laughing, and it was so adorable I had to pause after I watched it. After a brief switch to Tae, which involved a very much appreciated look at Tae and a lollipop, the music video switched to a mug-shot scenario. Here Jin started to center, and he actually centered for a lot of the video. I’m so happy to see how much Jin is killing as center. There were some rapid fire shots of each of the hyung line separately in this part of the video as well. I appreciated seeing the hyung line getting some extra love, and these individual shots were amazing. I especially loved J-Hope’s sleeveless top with his coat slung over his shoulder. After this segment we got to see some color and some amazing choreography! Tae came in next with his orange suit and the slicked back hair really worked for him here. Between Tae in the elevator and Jin with his sunglasses, this part of the video exuded so much confidence. My sister absolutely melted when the scene switched to Jimin lifting his sunglasses with an eyebrow quirk that suggested he knew exactly what he was doing. The sports gear was also adorable, but we didn’t see it for long because we switched to some really awesome individual scenes of the members dancing in an elevator. The dancers killed this, but Jin also really shined here. Who says he isn’t a dancer? After some more of Yoongi and the sporty fits, we saw the adorable shot that’s being shared of all of the members spelling out ARMY. This is probably my favorite part of the video. After this we were given a gold stage for some more choreography and some amazing shots of Hobi, who ended the video with eating an entire piece of butter. You go, Hobi.

The Looks: Jungkook’s long hair kills me. It’s such a vibrant blue/purple and the style fits him so well. His fake eyebrow piercing is also a really good look for him. Taehyung’s best look here was the orange suit. I’ve said it before, but it looks amazing on him. Although there is something to be said about his dorky smile with his hat and glasses combo later in the video. Jimin has slicked back hair throughout most of the video, which isn’t a look he has often but it’s one I love. The rainbow colors in his hair give it something extra that pushes it over the edge. Hobi wears A LOT of sleeveless shirts in this video and I absolutely fell in love with each one. He looks insanely good with his arms exposed. Plus his yellow hair fits his personality perfectly. Yoongi has some gray in his hair in this video which I didn’t expect. It looks really good and especially adorable with the sporty outfit. I loved his necklaces and bracelets there as well. Jin rocks every pair of sunglasses here. He owns sunglasses now. I don’t make the rules. And finally, Namjoon’s pink hair is really nice here. It’s a more metallic pink color that fits his personality much better than a pastel. And his harness. Enough said. I loved all of these looks. From the exposed chest we got on J-Hope, to the sheer shirt that flowed so well on Jimin, to the blue stripes on Jungkook’s sporty outfit to match his hair. But I’m not sold on the looks they have now that shooting for this music video is over. Namjoon’s brown bangs and ends look somewhat strange with his pink hair. Tae’s perm reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite. I already miss Jungkook’s long hair. But then again, there’s not much they can do to undermine how good they all look.

That’s it! I will be listening to this song on repeat for several days, so consider me distracted for a while. I’m so happy with this music video and there are still things I’m pretty sure I missed. So if you haven’t watched this music video yet, watch it right now! Stream and download this song! It deserves everything “Dynamite” got and more!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Comfort Movies: Jumanji Welcome To the Jungle

Screenshot from ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ featuring Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse. Copyright goes to Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Back to another movie that I have watched several times throughout quarantine and is always comforting to me. I grew up watching the original ‘Jumanji’ starring Robin Williams, and I couldn’t possibly be able to say how many times I’ve watched that film. But I think there was something completely magical about this remake, even though remakes aren’t necessarily my favorite generally speaking. I feel like this was enough detached from the original content to still feel like a completely creative story of it’s own. But more than that, this movie is funny and wholesome and exactly what I needed to watch right now. There’s so much that’s good about this movie, so I’m just going to jump into it and talk about why this movie is so great.

The Avatars:

I just really like this concept a lot. While we saw Alan be sucked into the world of Jumanji in the original film and we knew he lived there for a while, we didn’t really see what it looked like. We just saw things come out of it. Not only does this movie take place inside the world of Jumanji that we never got to see; but the way it ties it into video games by having these avatars live inside the world puts a more creative spin on it. Through this, we see the world of Jumanji through a video game and choosable characters. Dr. Bravestone is a general strong video game protagonist, Ruby Roundhouse is the over sexualized female character, Mouse Finnbar is the sidekick character, Dr. Shelly Oberon is the smart guy, and Seaplane McDonough is the cool, mysterious character. But instead of following these characters, we follow the poor kids who accidentally chose them in the bodies of these avatars. In fact, this is where much of the comedy from the movie comes in. Spencer ends up in the body Dr. Bravestone even though he is a skinny stereotypical “nerd” with low self esteem, Martha, who keeps to herself, ends up being Ruby Roundhouse and is immediately dismayed by the character design, Fridge is Mouse who is much smaller than him and less strong, and Bethany ends up as Dr. Shelly Oberon, a portly scientist, having thought his character was a girl. The most fun in this movie is watching the avatar actors play the teenagers. Especially Jack Black who plays such a convincing teenage girl that it’s almost scary. And then we of course later meet Alex who has been stuck as Seaplane for over twenty years. Really, this new movie wouldn’t have worked or felt nearly as creative without the avatars.

Teenagers:

I really have to talk about the way the movie treats young people and teenagers because it’s so different from the way that young people are generally portrayed. Especially in movies like this. While this movie does poke fun at some teenage problems and use them for comedy, it is never meant in a way that pushes any of the characters down. All of their problems are seen as completely valid and are treated as normal things that everyone goes through. In fact, they use some of the issues that most movies would brush off as needed moments for character development. I think that this comes through with no character as much as it does with Bethany. When we are introduced to the character of Bethany she is a typical social media influencer type character. She’s popular and she puts a lot of emphasis on her looks. But the movie never tells the audience that she’s wrong for being that way. Though she does learn to put less emphasis on the way she looks and on popularity, the only other thing that truly changes about her is a newfound love of nature. From the very beginning of the movie, Bethany is shown to have an incredible capacity for compassion. She’s even the character who gives up one of her lives to save Alex. Bethany also is very much a believer in not judging people based on the way they look from the beginning of the film and her flirting skills actually come into very good use. One of my favorite elements of the movie is the relationship between Bethany and Martha, who become friends after they realize that they have a lot more in common than they think. Bethany realizes that she hasn’t looked for friends outside of those that match her popularity and looks while Martha realizes she disliked Bethany because of what she thought Bethany represented, rather than someone she actually was. As someone who was one hundred percent a Martha in high school (and still am sometimes), I thought this movie shed so much light onto why popular people, like Bethany, shouldn’t be disliked on principle. I love this movie because it never shames young people for having young people problems as well as showing that young people can also be incredibly smart and responsible no matter how they’re seen.

The World:

When watching the original ‘Jumanji’ film, I never thought that I would enjoy seeing the jungle where Alan was trapped for so many years. He didn’t seem to enjoy it, so why would I want to see it? I though we saw enough of it when the jungle basically overtook the entire downstairs of the house they were playing the game in. But this movie makes the jungle look amazing and almost like a place you would want to visit. Even though you probably really wouldn’t because of all the killer animals. This design for the new jungle even included throwbacks to the original film; such as the place Alan lived when he was stuck in the jungle and the statues that look like the original ‘Jumanji’ game pieces. The forestry is beautiful and almost magical, the waterfalls are gorgeous, and the marketplace reminds me of something straight out of an ‘Indiana Jones’ movie. It feels like a mash up of so many beautiful settings from classic action films and it makes the movie feel all the more like an escape. Which is funny, considering this is the place the characters are trying to escape from.

The Game:

One of the main aspects of ‘Jumanji’ was always the mystery of the game as well as the terrifying fact that the game could evolve. I think there was really no better way to show the game evolving than having it turn into a video game. It leaves the movie packed full of great classic game references as well as shows the audience exactly how the game can make sure it will continue to be played. Again, I’m not a huge fan of remakes. I feel like a lot of them prevent newer artists and creatives from being heard and putting their work out there because remakes are considered the safer choice to studios. But I do feel like with the nature of the original game, I can see why ‘Jumanji’ would warrant some sort of remake. It’s a game thats main purpose is to shift so that it will be played over and over again. And I’m also really glad that this new version didn’t explore the origins of the game or answered any questions as to what it is or why it wants to be played. I feel like the game is best kept a mystery.

This movie is seriously one of my favorites. I love it more and fall more in love with the characters each time I watch it. I didn’t like the second installation in the franchise as much, but it was still fun. I am, admittedly, a little afraid of what might happen in the third movie considering that one looks like it will take place in real life. That’s been done before and I think that they struck gold with the idea of the avatars, so it may not be the best idea to revisit the series with something that looks too much like a true remake of the original movie. But we’ll see. I want to reserve judgement until I see it just because I love this movie so much. And can I mention here that I was a little bummed when Alex went back to his own time? Oh well, it’s all for the best I guess!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: BTS Rolling Stone Interviews

2019 Summer Package photo of Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, and Kim Seokjin. Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

As of now five of the seven Rolling Stone interviews have been released! While I could go through all five individual interviews from the members of BTS, I want to make sure I give each interview a good amount of space. So Namjoon’s recently released interview, as well as the unreleased interviews with both Yoongi and Tae, will have to wait until my next post on this collaboration. But there’s so much much to talk about in terms of what each member mentioned, as well as their individual photo shoots! So let’s just get into this!

J-Hope:

I’ve already talked a bit about his look for his individual photoshoot in my last post, so I won’t spend too much time on it. All I’ll say is that the oversized sweater over the nice fitting white tee looks insanely good on him. Anyways. This interview started out with questions about his time in quarantine. Hobi mentioned that the time quarantine has given him allowed him to appreciate the more mundane parts off his life and reflect on himself. His main takeaway from the experience was simply that he should do his best in each situation life presents. Hobi talked quite a bit about how he wanted to offer consolation and hope to those who were struggling in quarantine like he was, which was an incredibly sweet and incredibly Hobi sentiment. Hobi was also asked about his own struggles with constantly keeping up his hopeful persona. He’s been addressing these struggles more often in his lyrics now, and he said that he feels he is being truer to who he is. I love that he feels he can be more open about these things, despite the hopefulness so many people expect from him. Both he and Yoongi have expressed how important it is to express all your emotions, and I love how he’s embracing that. Springing off of that, he was asked about the actually very deep meaning behind “Outro: Ego” in particular, which is a song about his true self. He noted that the song comes to the conclusion that trusting and believing in yourself is a major part of who you are. This also led into a conversation about “Hope World”. Hobi said that he felt the music he created for “Hope World” reflects a more innocent, younger version of him. Hobi did say that he’s looking towards another mixtape, though there’s nothing concrete yet, but the way he spoke about it seems like he’ll be exploring more mature themes in the future. Hobi finally spoke about how thankful he was towards the other members, both for teaching him to rap, and for supporting him in a growing phase that was so different from other teens his age. His interview overall was just very wholesome, but Hobi, as usual, is also surprising insightful and a very deep thinker.

Jimin:

Jimin’s look for this photoshoot was simple, but very nice. He wore mostly black, which he’s proven time and time again looks crazy good, but his shirt pocket gave a nice splash of color and glamour to keep it from looking too uniform. The interviewer started this out by noting Jimin is an introvert which, apparently, is strange considering how good he is at singing and dancing. I’d like to point out to whoever wrote this that introversion doesn’t stop anyone from being skilled at singing and dancing. Moving past my distaste for this comment, the interviewer’s first question hounded Jimin over the mixtape he’s rumored to be working on. With no official statements having been made by either him or the company. Jimin brushed this off by saying he’s been trying out different things but he doesn’t have much yet. He shouldn’t have had to brush this off the minute the interview started. Jimin was then asked about his experience in quarantine. Jimin said that the time to himself taught him to take BTS’s own messages to heart and to love himself. He confessed that he still isn’t comfortable with having to perform without fans or friends and that he’s still struggling with the situation. I really appreciate that he addressed these thoughts. Although it’s nice to hear about the positive things people are learning in quarantine, sometimes it’s nice to see that you aren’t the only one struggling. He was asked about when he realized he had a gift for dancing and Jimin immediately corrected the interviewer by saying he isn’t “good” but he does enjoy it. Jimin is one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen. I really hate that he doesn’t give himself the credit he deserves. Beyond this Jimin also talked about how hard he is on himself when he makes mistakes. He said that he appreciates that ARMYs appreciate him for everything he does, but he also feels it’s incentive to never make mistakes and that he shouldn’t go easy on himself. He ended the interview with talking about the difficulties in recording “Serendipity”, which the interviewer had a specific interest in, and then saying he wanted to continue performing for as long as possible. This man’s humility and drive blow me away, but I wish he was a bit kinder to himself.

Jin:

Jin’s outfit seemed a bit more formal than the other looks from the individual photoshoots, which fits Jin’s style extremely well. His gray suit buttoned on the side fit him well and I like how it helped accent his shoulders in his cover photo. Jin’s interview started with a little bit more about his daily life. He was asked what he had done the day before, which was film for variety show that, according to Jin, was extremely impressed with his looks. And who wouldn’t be really? He also spoke a bit about how quarantine has given him time to reflect on himself and how sad he and the other members have been without the option to tour. He connected these bad feelings to his song “Abyss” which he noted helped him alleviate some of his more sad emotions. The interviewer oddly jumped from “Abyss” to the guitar sounds in “Moon” to a possible rock song from BTS. It was a weird connection to make all within one question, but Jin took it in stride by saying that he’d be open to a rock song as long as it fit with BTS’s theming. Jin was asked about the difficulties of jumping from acting to singing and dancing. Jin used this opportunity to talk about how difficult it is for him to learn dancing compared to the other members, bringing up that he has spent extra hours practicing so he won’t bring them down. Jin’s hard work really shows and I wish that he could realize how in awe ARMYs are of his improvements. He also downplayed his singing abilities a bit, but he said that seeing the joy his singing brings audiences makes him feel better about it. He was asked a very odd question about the idea that people stop aging at the age they are when they become famous, which Jin handled by saying that he keeps re-becoming famous, making him feel his own age. He also talked about his focus on music as opposed to acting, he laid out the process of BTS deciding who gets what line in a song by having each member sing the entire song, and then he finished off the interview with his early-career idea that only 1,000 fans would be a success. Jin’s answers were very straightforward and though, like Jimin, he is known for his self-depreciating comments, I liked how much confidence he did express here.

Jungkook:

Jungkook’s look is actually pretty formal in his photoshoot, as well. He’s wearing a long gray overcoat over a tee tucked into some black pants. The overcoat dwarfs him a bit, but it gives him a really interesting silhouette and an adorable overall look. His interview started with his reaction to being surprised with footage of fans singing “Life Goes On”. He talked about how the situation made him emotional because of how disappointed he was that they couldn’t tour in March. From there he was asked about what it was like growing up within BTS. Jungkook turned this question into a large thank you to all of the other members of BTS for being there for him, which was such an endearing move. Jungkook was asked about his time in quarantine and living a “normal” life, but Jungkook was adamant that this wasn’t the case. He said that they still had to work at getting better for the fans, schedules they still had to stick to, and responsibilities pertaining to their personal images. While I knew this was true about their time away, It still made me sad that they had to work so hard throughout all of this. Jungkook was asked about the pressure behind being a “Golden Maknae” and he noted that nothing really comes of being an all-around person. The best things come from practice and he would rather focus on the skills that he’s honed than the ones others seem to think he has naturally. I actually really get this sentiment. While it’s nice to be kind of good at most things, I think most people would rather be recognized for the skills they put a lot of work into growing. Jungkook moved on to discus how difficult the English in “Dynamite” was to grasp, and how much he continues to love “Euphoria” because of how it captures his transition between boy and man. He also talked about how much he loves Ariana Grande’s stage presence, which was adorable. He ended the interview by saying that topping U.S. charts and the Grammy nomination are all highlights in his career, but the biggest highlight will always be seeing ARMY from the stage. Jungkook is such a sweetheart and a lot of his kindness came out here.

I’ll talk about the other interviews as they’re released so stay tuned! Also, I am never able to fit everything they talk about into these posts, so I recommend you go back to the original Rolling Stone articles if you’re curious. But that’s enough for now. I’m loving these interviews and I can’t wait to deep dive into the final three!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: New Microphone Colors

Photo of BTS’s old microphones from their social media. Copyright goes to HYBE Entertainment and BTS’s social media accounts.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Over the last couple days we’ve had some pretty great performances from various different K-pop groups between the event with Amazon Music and the Lotte Duty Free Family Concert. But what struck a lot of people about these performances, almost as much as the performances themselves, was the different colored mics that a couple of the groups seemed to debut. Both BTS and ATEEZ were involved in this, so of course I want to talk all about their new performances as well as their multi-colored mics. So let’s get into it!

BTS:

For the virtual Lotte Duty Free Family Concert, BTS was sporting all new mics. This seemed to be something people were more or less expecting considering the appearance of the mics in the new BTS HYBE museum. So, besides the heartwarming presence of Yoongi and the amazing high notes Jimin hit during ‘Telepathy’ while harmonizing with Hobi, there was still so much to talk about.

Namjoon: Namjoon has gone through a couple microphones, but for the most part they have been various shades of lighter blue and silver. The one he had during the most recent concert was a silvery white, but definitely seemed to me like it was white. Though I miss his blue one, I did like the color of this new one!

Jin: The color of Jin’s mic used to be bright pink and famously so. Jin has associated himself with the color pink pretty often over the last couple years between his mic color, his jewel themed room for ‘Be’, and his all-pink outfit for his performance of ‘Moon’. The color of his current mic was widely debated last night. Some were saying it was mint while others said it was just light green. But it was definitely a shade of green. While I love the color of this one, I also do miss the pink that I generally associate with him.

Yoongi: Yoongi’s mic has always been black, which is practical and actually pretty fitting for him. He hasn’t really gone through many changes with that over the years. The one from the most recent concert is a completely reflective microphone. You can seriously see every color reflected in it now. It makes it really interesting to look at!

Hobi: Hobi is another person who has gone through a few different colors with his mic. He started out with silver before the more silverish color went to Namjoon and then ended up with red. The brighter color really seemed to reflect his bright personality a bit more and it often went with his outfits very well. I’m talking about that bright red suit that none of us can forget. This time he’s back to a more silverish color that looks slightly more silvery than Namjoon’s current white mic.

Jimin: Jimin hasn’t changed too much, he’s had his trusty golden mic for quite a few years now. So it was definitely a change to see him without the gold this time around. His mic, like Namjoon and Hobi’s, was also silverish. But, during ‘Telepathy’, you could tell that it was more of a blush pink color. Jimin has the pink mic now! It was really fun to see him with that color.

Tae: Tae has always had his deep but bright green. I almost wonder what the color means to him, because I don’t think he’s ever changed it. And that includes now. The trusty green color was still present, and I really like the color. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. It’s interesting to see him be the only one who stuck to his original color.

Jungkook: He’s also stuck with the same color over the years. With the famous phrase “I purple you” being associated with the group, at least one person has to have purple. And of course, the maknae has stuck to this color. While his mic color was more of a dark purple before, now it’s definitely a neon purple. The brightness of it makes it stand out!

Personally, I prefer the more distinguishable colors of their previous mics, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy seeing the new ones. And I think it always takes ARMY’s a little while to get used to the new mics after we’ve fallen in love with the last ones. I love how much we’ve attached to their mic colors and I’m excited to see more of the new ones!

ATEEZ:

During the Amazon Music event, ATEEZ performed an amazing rendition of ‘Leave the Door Open’ by Bruno Mars. Between Yunho and Jongho’s amazing vocals, Yeosang’s spoken interjection, and literally everything else we had a lot trending on Twitter. (Did you see Seonghwa and Yunho playing with the pillow in the background? So cute!) Seriously, this is one of my new favorite covers. The boys actually looked pretty relaxed and like they were having fun even though I’ve never seen them perform in this style before. They were so good! But I also thought it was amazing that we’re seeing their colored mics now!

Hongjoong: Hongjoong’s new mic is pure white and considering his cool toned hair, it made his entire image pop. Hongjoong always spits fire into his mic, so it definitely makes the stark white stand out.

Seonghwa: His mic was a silver that was also rather reflective. Seonghwa really looked like he was having the time of his life during the performance, and the bright colors bouncing off his mic oddly reflected that mood.

Yunho: Ok, I just about died when the performance started out with a close up on him. But the dark blue mic being my introduction to their colored mics was almost just as good. I don’t know what just seems to fit about Yunho and blue, but the color suits him so well.

Yeosang: Yeosang’s mic was completely bright red. And also I just want to point out how much Yeosang got in this song. I loved hearing more from him! But the brightness of his mic really made him stand out even more.

San: San was another one who stunned with his high notes during the performance. His golden vocals were only highlighted by his new golden mic. He looked really at home with this new mic, so of course I can’t wait to see more of it.

Wooyoung: Wooyoung went with a black mic, which I think actually goes well with the stage persona he’s been developing. He’s definitely gone for more of a darker look lately, it suits him so well along with his longer hair, and the black mic is perfect for that.

Jongho: I think Jongho was possibly one of the funniest members during the performance, especially towards the end of it. But the plum purple mic was not a choice I was expecting, but also suited him well. It wasn’t too bright for him, but it was still bright enough for the maknae.

Now I just can’t wait to see Mingi with his new mic. But I would like to include a small reminder not to expect Mingi too soon or pressure him in any way. Just because he’s back in the area doesn’t mean he doesn’t still need time to readjust. There were quite a few people expecting him to be there for this performance and were disappointed when he wasn’t there. I think your disappointment is only going to make him feel worse. Just be patient for him to fully heal, so he can come back in a way that’s healthy for him. Mingi being healthy is by far the most important thing right now and is definitely far more important than him returning immediately.

Well, there you have it! The new microphone colors were dazzling and I thought it was so interesting what was chosen for each member. I can’t wait to see more of them all!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: ‘The Bad Batch’ Episode 3 Review

Screenshot of Echo, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker from ‘The Bad Batch’. Copyright goes to The Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I finally got around to watching the latest episode of ‘The Bad Batch’ and wow. This episode got kind of dark, especially with how cute the storyline between Omega and the other clones was. There isn’t much I can say here without SPOILERS, so here’s your warning for the review ahead. I can say I’m interested to see just how far they’re going to go with the heavier themes they’ve been establishing. I have so much I want to talk about so let’s get right into it.

The Good:

Omega and the Bad Batch: This storyline was mostly focused on Omega, but it cleverly used a small, deserted planet to put the focus primarily on the characters. In this episode we got to see all four members of the Bad Batch begin to appreciate how difficult it is for Omega to be traveling with them as a child. Hunter is probably the most aware of this, which makes sense given the character growth he went through in the last episode, but all of the members had to acknowledge that they should be more courteous around her. Wrecker was primarily used for this. He started out the episode seriously considering taking Omega’s rations because of how hungry he was, and ended the episode by creating a small bedroom for her on the ship. He even gave her his stuffed toy to help decorate. This type of focus on Omega could have infantilized her, but the show cleverly avoided this. Instead it introduced an environmental villain Omega was particularly suited to go up against after the Bad Batch’s ship crash lands on a dark, mysterious planet. While Tech and Echo are attempting to repair the ship, they realize that it’s being attacked by some local wildlife. Omega manages to convince Hunter to let her go with him to find the beast and get back an important part Tech needs to fix the ship. Hunter ends up getting knocked out and Omega has to venture into the beast’s lair alone, where she manages to outsmart the creature without hurting it and retrieve the part. I love that every time they emphasize how young Omega is they always make sure the audience knows she isn’t someone to mess with, either.

Crosshair and the Empire: Crosshair is back and with him comes a very dark storyline for the Empire. Crosshair still seems to be doubting himself, especially in situations where he’s reminded of the friends he left behind, but his hesitation is only ever momentary. In this episode it seems the Empire is successfully keeping him under their control and, even worse, Imperial Admiral Rampart is now introducing the beginnings of the Storm Troopers. Seemingly to prevent the Empire from having to spend any more money paying the Kaminoans for clones, Rampart suggests they start recruiting humans and train them under experienced clones. They test this out with Crosshair, who is given a troupe of human fighters to work with. They send the new group after the rebels we saw Saw Gerrera leading a little while ago. They don’t make it in time to find Gerrera, but they do find some inhabitants of the nearby village using the resources he set up to escape the planet. When all of them refuse to give away the location of Gerrera, one of the human fighters protests against killing the group, especially because there are children among them. However, Crosshair uses the moment to remind the group why he was put in charge by murdering the guy in cold blood and overseeing the rest of them as they fire on the villagers, killing them. It was a very dark scene that demonstrated how horrific the Empire really is. All of this contrasted with the other members of the Bad Batch admitting they miss Crosshair and Omega assuring them that he is still good at heart, he simply can’t control his actions. It hits well emotionally, but maybe for the wrong reasons.

The Bad (Batch):

Crosshair: Here he is again, which might be a bit confusing. As I said above, seeing the way he’s being controlled vs the way the other members of the Bad Batch are missing him right now was emotional. But not because I cared at all about Crosshair. While Omega keeps assuring the Bad Batch, and the audience, that Crosshair is a good guy, I’m not sure I believe her. I know he’s being controlled, but all we got of Crosshair before the chip kicked in was a completely sadistic personality mixed with some general rudeness. I can’t help but agree with Tech in this situation. I don’t even know if he would be a good person without the chip. If they’re trying to play off Crosshair’s current position as tragic, it isn’t working. They needed to have established that he was actually worth converting before they decided to turn him into a villain.

The Character Development: I liked the character moments we got in this episode, but none of the characters really went anywhere. Hunter already learned to respect Omega last episode, so there wasn’t much here for him. Omega has established herself as both capable and caring, so while I liked that she got to show it off here, it wasn’t new. Wrecker has already shown how much he likes kids and that his occasional mistakes are never malicious, so it wasn’t a surprise he tripped up around Omega and decided to right his wrongs. Tech and Echo hardly got anything. With so few episodes, I hope we get more character development really soon here. This episode didn’t do too much in that regard.

Overall I liked this episode! I hope to see more from the characters in the future, but the plot seems to be going somewhere very interesting. The Empire is really shining right now with its surprisingly important and horrific storyline. While I liked the bonding amongst Omega and the Bad Batch in this episode, I hope next episode we get something more impactful and active. Nothing has beat the first episode so far, but none of these episodes have been bad at all!

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Imitation Episode 2

Promotional image of (from left) Jeong Yunho, Jeong Jiso, Lee Junyoung, and Park Jiyeon. Copyright goes to KBS2 and Viki.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Back with another episode of this series from Friday and I really can’t say it’s been picking up too much yet. But we did get some new plot developments and another episode of great acting! However, this show still has yet to actually really sell me. And it, once again, has nothing to do with the acting and everything to do with the writing. But before I get into that, I would like to remind any new people to the blog that I am an ATEEZ fan. I try to write these reviews in as unbiased a way as possible towards the show, but that doesn’t mean it won’t seep in every once in a while. So, with that out of the way, I’m just going to jump into it! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Good:

The Acting- As always, the acting is great in this show. The characters are adorable and the actors who play them really sell them. I still can’t pick out an actor in this show who I think is doing a bad job. Everyone just seems to have their heart in the right place and a great understanding of the characters that they’re playing. But right now I have to give a whole lot of credit to San who plays Minsoo, because he’s not on screen much but his acting is already scene-stealing.

The Side Characters- These are the characters that just steal my heart every single time. This episode we got much more of Yujin, and I loved every moment he was on screen. Yes, this is my Yunho bias showing a little, but he was really great. He drove in the middle of the night to pick up Maha and also tried to buy her some more time so that she could sleep. Very much boyfriend material. We also got to see just a little bit more of Sparkling. We haven’t seen their debut on the show yet but I sincerely hope that it’s coming soon. I also really like the characters of Hyunji and Riah! I feel like they’re some of the major characters that keep the show grounded and enjoyable for me. Hyunji is absolutely adorable and I love the sass Riah has. I feel like Riah is probably my favorite character in this show so far. She’s not only very relatable, but her voice is absolutely beautiful as well.

Sparkling- This might just be my fan-girl side coming out, but I loved what we saw of the group dynamics for Sparkling this episode. For the first time we saw what the group is like, which was both amazing and kind of funny to me. Yoojin comes back from driving Maha home and is immediately caught and penalized for being out after hours with a girl. Both are major rules that he just broke. We see, before he runs out worried to pick up Maha, that the only non-ATEEZ member, Hyunoh, is watching him. And from his reaction when Yoojin comes back, Hyunoh was the one who reported him. The actor who plays Hyunoh is doing a great job and the members of ATEEZ have already talked about missing him since filming is over, but I just thought it was funny that he’s playing an antagonist to Yoojin. Minsoo was there to comfort Yoojin and Seyoung looked disapprovingly over Hyunoh. We also saw the members of Sparkling dance to ‘Wave’ by ATEEZ this episode. Huge shout out to Soowoong who plays Hyunoh because he looked seamless joining the members of ATEEZ in that dance. I also loved the reference, obviously.

The Bad:

The Main Characters- They still aren’t selling me, and I think part of it is because I feel like something is missing here. Generally the first episode takes more time to establish the main characters, but the show seems to be focusing more on moving certain plot points along. We got more development for them this episode, which was great. They were better than last episode certainly. But they still don’t feel relatable. It doesn’t feel like I can connect to them on any sort of personal level yet. It doesn’t help that Ryok is still supposed to be closed off so it’s hard to get anything from him. But I at least liked that we got some funny moments with his manager this episode. Maha’s character so far is almost entirely based off of depressing moments from her past that make people in the present feel sorry for her. And while it’s good to show that she’s strong and been through so much, there has been little to no development on who she is now as a person. I want to know who she is in the present. This show just seems to be struggling when it comes to character development.

Compelling Story- This sounds really harsh, I know, but I think this is where the show is failing the most. The concept of the show is certainly compelling, especially because they got actual idols to portray idols. But the show’s plot itself moves very slowly and doesn’t explore anything that really seems to draw in the viewer. After a couple hour long episodes we still haven’t seen all of the groups debut even though there’s only twelve episodes over-all, which is pretty short for a K-drama. While this episode finally dealt with giving the main girl group a name and a better CEO to work under, the entire episode just felt like it was dragging its feet. Unfortunately, the ratings of the show reflect what I just said. Though I can’t be too sure if this is also due to a poor marketing strategy. This is just one of those shows that you can look away from and you probably didn’t miss too much.

Abandoned Characters: This show just has a habit of pushing characters to the background and forgetting about them or forgetting that past side characters every existed. For example, last time I discussed a character who was very depressed. And while they didn’t sensationalize that plot line in the way I feared they would, they kept referring to the character as “the incident”. This also makes me a little worried about how the show will deal with darker themes or even if it’ll try to do it at all. Because while I didn’t want them to take things too far, the way they were referring to this character felt borderline dehumanizing in the very least.

Over-all, I am enjoying this show. But in the interest of being honest, I have to say that I am enjoying this show purely because I like seeing the members of ATEEZ act. I think the show so far has major struggles when it comes to plot and character development, which are quite possibly the two most important qualities of a show. If I didn’t like ATEEZ I don’t really think I would be watching this drama and, if I had even found out about it, I probably would have stopped watching after the first episode. This isn’t to say that the drama is completely bad, and it could very well get much better. But if you are just looking for a drama to watch right now, I’m not sure I would recommend this. If you are an ATEEZ fan, it’s always fun to watch them do just about anything. But this is only two episodes in, so it could get much better! From an Atiny perspective, with the amount of views this show is getting it feels like we’re getting much more new fans from ‘Kingdom’ right now and barely any from this show. I don’t actually think this show did much to market itself and relied mostly on the social media of the idol groups. I know they have a good fanbase, but that doesn’t mean they’re all going to watch your show and it definitely doesn’t draw in new viewers. So if we can’t support ATEEZ as well here, even though we will all certainly try, we can always support them on ‘Kingdom’ if that’s what you’re looking to do as an Atiny! And if you aren’t, I wouldn’t exactly blame you for skipping this one.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie