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

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

Photo of Kim Taehyung (V), Min Yoongi (Suga), Jeon Jungkook, Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon (RM), Park Jimin, and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) on the red carpet for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Copyright goes to BTS and the HYBE Corporation.

Hey! Hallie here!

We’re back! A few days ago my sister and I went to get our second vaccine so we took a day off yesterday to recover from some mild symptoms. But we’re back and feeling amazing, so today I’m going to talk about what occupied all of my thoughts while I was relaxing yesterday! Of course, that would be the BTS interview released by Rolling Stone with some amazing photos to accompany it. This interview was actually decent! You do have to be careful with most American interviews, and not all of the questions were winners here, but I did enjoy most of the interview! There are also individual interviews with the members slowly being released. I will cover all of those once more are released, but J-Hope’s is out now if you want to check it out! Anyways, let’s talk a bit about the kinds of things BTS talked about and how gorgeous all of them looked in the photoshoot.

The BTS Interview:

This interview started out hitting extremely hard with the interviewer asking Namjoon about what he thinks of BTS’s success with the disgusting anti-Asian climate we’re seeing. Namjoon smartly responded that they were, unfortunately, a rare thing to see in the music industry and although there isn’t anything specific they can say contributed to propelling them over the racism, they hope their success will lead to a more accepting world in the future. As the interview went on the interviewer seemed to attempt to get everyone to say at least one thing of note about themselves, though the amount of speaking we saw from each member does fit with how often they speak in regular interviews. Jungkook talked about how he joined BTS because of how impressed he was with Namjoon’s talent. Yoongi talked about how his parents didn’t understand his dream to pursue rap. They also spoke to Yoongi about the songs that he has written to reflect his mental health. He clarified that he is doing fine now, but that all emotions should be expressed. Hobi was introduced into the interview with an adorable interaction between the members that Taehyung started by noting that Hobi’s warm personality would make him a good president of the entire world. Hobi then recalled how intimidating it was to join the group without having rap skills, especially because the initial idea for BTS would have included only those who could rap. The interview then shifted to Jin who jokingly bragged about his looks and then immediately started saying he wasn’t as talented as the other members. How does he not know how amazing he is? Tae spoke a bit about how confused he was over the fact that he was the “hidden member” when they debuted, which Bang PD (He was also there!) smoothed over by saying he felt Tae’s charms would get the group more publicity if he was to be announced last. Lastly, Jimin spoke about his perfectionism and how close the group has become.

The interviewer was very knowledgable about the entire “Dynamite” situation which we’ve talked about on this blog multiple times. The interviewer asked the group what they thought of the refusal by US radio stations to play “Life Goes On” because it’s in Korean, despite the special treatment “Dynamite” received. Namjoon answered that he hoped the prejudice that caused that decision would be gone soon as society is changing. They were also asked about “Butter”! According to this interview, it seems “Butter” won’t be about the entertainment industry so far. So those who were hoping for something like a diss track may be disappointed. The interview even goes as far as to say that it won’t have any deep themes at all. I’m a bit concerned about this, but I guess we’ll see what happens. The interview ended with the very precarious topic of the potential military service they will all serve. Jin spoke about how he was grateful that his country allowed him to wait before he had to serve and said again that he would be honored to serve when they call him. Jin didn’t seem like he was actually considering the group going on without him. He said he’d be sad but understanding if they chose to do so, but that didn’t seem to be what he thought was going to happen if he left to serve. Actually, from what all of them said, it seemed more like the company is leaning towards sending them together. But who knows? Either way, Jimin was clear that nothing would put an end to BTS for a very long while. I would like to note that by far the worst part of the interview was when the interviewer asked BTS if they worried about how their fans would react to the news that any of them were dating. Yoongi very bluntly disregarded this by saying that all ARMYs are different and will respond to different things in different ways. I really appreciated how he dealt with yet another dating-related question.

The Photoshoot:

This cover photo reminded me a lot of “Magic Shop”. In it, all of the members are peeking out of a window with various degrees of shock on their faces. For “Magic Shop” it was a doorway, but the concept is similar. You can tell this was done slightly before “Butter” because Hobi is sporting bleached hair before it was dyed a more prominent yellow. Similarly, Jimin’s hair is still brown and Jungkook’s hair is the gray it was before it was dyed purple. And, of course, this was before Namjoon revealed he had lied to us when he said he wouldn’t go back to pink hair. In this shoot they’re working with more neutral tones, and all of them switch between more casual and more dressy looks depending on the photo. In one photo they all lounge around a couch in various dark-colored suits. The lightest colors we see here are worn by Namjoon, in white, and Yoongi and Jin, both in different light gray coats. In the cover photo we see a black and white color palette that ties them all together beautifully. There’s also some fun checkered designs on Hobi and Jungkook that are eye-catching. Some more fun looks that better fit each member’s personal style are being released with the individual interviews. Because Hobi’s interview has already been released, we’ve already seen him in a gorgeous, black, oversized sweater with some multicolored cursive on it to bring in the bright colors that he loves so much. That over an extremely well fitting white tee tucked into some yellow pants. They all look insanely good here, as usual, and I’m excited to see more of their individual shots.

Those are my thoughts! I’m really enjoying the Rolling Stone coverage so far! Once more interviews are released I’ll be back to cover more of the topics they discuss and their amazing looks. For now, I seriously recommend you check out what’s been released. The initial interview is so long, I didn’t manage to cover nearly everything that was said. There’s so much they discuss and plenty of good information if you’re new to ARMY and want to be filled in on what they’ve been doing recently. There’s also insights on what it was like when they started. Even if you’re a long-time ARMY there’s plenty to enjoy. As for me, I’m constantly revisiting those photos. Just wow.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

ATEEZ: Mingi Is Back!

Image of Song Mingi in a photoshoot. Copyright goes to KQ Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

I seriously cried late last night when the pictures came out. For those of you who didn’t know, Mingi, a main rapper of the eight member group ATEEZ, has been on hiatus for the past six months. We haven’t received much news since the initial announcement came out, stating that Mingi was suffering from severe anxiety and would immediately take a break until further notice in order to recover. Though many people were saddened by this news, really the best way for him to recover was seeking treatment and relaxing. Considering how much of a mental downturn quarantine has been, this was something Mingi had to do and I’m sure most of us are so glad that he took that time for himself. Since then, we’ve heard Mingi’s voice on Yunho’s birthday Vlive as well as seen some other members pick up his calls, but we haven’t seen much of him since. I’m glad for this too because I think the public eye would have done nothing to help his recovery. But I think it’s an understatement to say that we missed him so much! Last night or early this morning, (or not so early depending on where you live) pictures were released of Mingi at the airport looking very cute and cozy. And best of all, even under the mask you could tell he was smiling. Though this is his first public appearance since his hiatus, I think we should all pause before we expect any immediate or big return to the group. He just got back and he may need more time to readjust away from the public eye, which would be totally understandable. But this is hopefully a sign of him getting better and it was just so nice to see him again! But because there are so many new Atinys joining now, or have joined in the past few months, I thought I would call back to some of my favorite Mingi moments. Personally, I had barely joined the fandom when Mingi went on hiatus so most of the moments I’ve seen of him were older videos. But I love him and I missed him so much! So here we go!

ATEEZ 2019 MAMA:

This is one of the first times that ATEEZ was able to garner a big reaction from an audience, and it was more than memorable. From them paying tribute to other artists to them performing their own song seamlessly in the mix, this performance was everything. It especially gained popularity when the footage of the members of BTS reacting to their tribute to “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” went viral after the show aired. But I thing the major thing that caught people’s eyes aside from the amazing singing and dancing was “the shirtless guy”. I think we all saw this going around at the time. This was before I even really became a fan of BTS, never mind ATEEZ, and I remember seeing pictures of Mingi from this performance. But even more than him being shirtless, the most iconic part of this performance was how hard Mingi went with the dancing at the end of the performance. He completely stood out to everyone as a passionate performer, and he deserves every bit of that recognition.

Wave:

Yes, I am talking about that entire song. Every member shines in every single song but, with every group, there’s always a song that centers one members talents just a little bit over the others. Mingi’s deep register is what gives this song it’s unique sound and it’s his vocals and rap in the song that are probably the most recognizable. His calls of “gunbae” and “hakuna matata” feel like the driving forces of the song. If you were to ask me to pick a song that ATEEZ released where I just think of Mingi immediately, it would be this one.

KQ Fellaz:

For possibly newer Atinys; before ATEEZ was being called by that name they were using the name KQ Fellaz during training. There is a series of episodes that showcase the boys training in Los Angeles and also doing some fun travel things there while they were working under this name. This is something I return to a lot and find really fun to watch because I recognize almost all the places they go to in the show. Many of them are places here in California that I frequent or try to visit as much as possible. Of course, the place that I go to the most is Universal Studios Hollywood, which I have mentioned plenty of other times on this blog. I only mention this because during the episode when the boys go to Universal Studios, Mingi decided to get up on a stage in the Wizarding World and basically start busking. This part never fails to make me laugh every single time I see it. His bravery to do things like that astounds me and his sense of humor is amazing.

Mingi and Yunho Dancing Team:

I, of course, had to mention this. Mingi and Yunho are both very close and some of the most skilled dancers of the group, so we’ve seen many impromptu collaborations in dance with them over the years. In fact, they’ve filmed themselves dancing together at several scenic places they’ve travelled to. But I think the most iconic performance of this dancing duo was to NCT U’s BOSS. They have performed this one in videos and at live events for fans and I’m honestly surprised those fans are still living. Seriously, are you guys ok?

There are so many Mingi moments that are worth mentioning, but I’m going to use the end of this post to talk a bit more about what him coming back should mean for us. I know a lot of people are very excited to know that he’s doing better and worried a lot about him while he was gone. I understand worrying about him. But I don’t think any of this gives us the right to know what happened while he was away. We should not ask Mingi or any of the members of ATEEZ in any format about what exactly Mingi was going through or how his recovery was. That is none of our business and those are subjects that could possibly still be difficult for him to talk about or even be reminded of at all. We all need to just be happy with the simple knowledge that he’s doing better. And if this public appearance still means that we’re months out from seeing him with the group, we need to be ok with that too. We don’t know where he is in his recovery and these things should never have time limits. Mingi will feel better in his own time, and that’s all we really need to know. Right now let’s give Mingi his space and privacy and when he comes back we’ll all welcome him with open arms, but not with needless questions. I will be patiently awaiting his return, whenever that may be. 8 makes 1 team!!!!!!!!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Star Wars: Why I Prefer Talking About Animated Star Wars

Screenshot of Ahsoka and Captain Rex from ‘Clone Wars’ Season 7. Copyright goes to the Walt Disney Company.

Hey! Hallie here!

I’m sure many of you noticed, but since ‘The Bad Batch’ released I’ve been looking towards more Star Wars content to fill the void Marvel is leaving while I wait for the Marvel Disney+ shows to return. This May has actually marked the most I’ve talked about Star Wars on this blog. That’s because I don’t like interacting with the Star Wars fandom on most occasions. Star Wars fans can get really nasty. We’ve seen racism, sexism, and homophobia come out of this fanbase more than I’ve seen come out of any other group of fans. We’ve seen people act disturbingly vicious over which Star Wars trilogy is best or which content is worth consuming. I don’t find myself wanting to get in the middle of these conversations, so I don’t. I stay silent on most Star Wars topics, despite the fact that I’m a huge fan of the series. But there’s something different about talking about the animated series. There’s a lot less problematic behavior from the fans that consume things like ‘Star Wars Rebels’. I want to talk a bit about why I see more accepting behavior coming from the fan groups attached to the animated Star Wars content.

Star Wars Isn’t Exclusively for Adults: I’m going to start out with an opinion I’ve seen brutally shot down by many Star Wars fans. Star Wars wasn’t written for adults. It’s a high-fantasy story about princesses, knights, and terrible evils. It’s a fairytale that uses common tropes to easily reach any audience member of any age. Yes it’s about a series of wars, but you honestly see more deaths and consequences of war in the cartoons than you see in the live action trilogies. Can adults enjoy this series? Absolutely. Is it exclusively for them? No. Star Wars was written for families. A lot of it was, and is, marketed towards children. But many fans have refused to admit this fact. Because of that we see fans attack each other over small details in the Star Wars universe and the “complicated” themes we should be picking up on from the movies. We don’t see this in the community backing the animated content. Because there’s no denying that the Star Wars cartoons are primarily for children. Yes, there’s a range of content for various audiences. ‘The Bad Batch’ is aligning itself with some of the darker seasons of ‘Clone Wars’ to cater towards a slightly older audience. Meanwhile ‘Star Wars Rebels’ and especially ‘Star Wars Resistance’ are made for slightly younger audiences. But all of them are marketed towards children first. This makes fans a lot less prone to kill each other over the small stuff and more likely to enjoy each show as it is. It also leads to a bigger reaction when something deep or heavy is revealed to the audience. Adults can appreciate the dramatic story beats in the cartoons that fit well with other ‘Star Wars’ content, meanwhile kids can still enjoy a well-written story with well-defined stakes. And very few people argue over the logistics of a lightsaber’s hilt turning into a blaster. It’s nice.

More Diversity Acceptance: We’ve seen many Star Wars fans attack women and people of color as the movies have been released. We’ve especially seen this as the sequels were released into theaters. Kelly Marie Tran was famously brutalized on social media until she deleted most of her social media accounts simply for being in Star Wars. After this fans used the slightly confusing Finn and Rose storyline in ‘The Last Jedi’ to justify completely tearing apart both her character, and the character of Finn. This led to both characters being shoved into the background in the final movie, Rose only receiving a handful of lines. Rey, on the other hand, was attacked for her gender. Fans called her a Mary Sue because she was “too good at everything” even though her natural talents were no different than Luke’s and aligned with most other Jedi introductions in Star Wars. You don’t see this nearly as much coming from animated fans. We got our first female Jedi from the animated series, Ahsoka Tano, and she was accepted with open arms. We’re seeing the first female clone step onto the scene in ‘The Bad Batch’ without fans questioning her existence. POC characters aren’t questioned when they appear, either. Fans simply enjoy whichever character comes on screen as they are, rather than questioning their right to be there or how much it “makes sense” for a non-white, non-male, character to do something fantastical in a fantasy universe. We don’t see fans unwilling to see the animated series diversify because it’s not the Star Wars of their childhood. It’s Star Wars content made to affect other childhoods. And that’s ok.

The Downside: The animated shows don’t have many downsides. Their storylines are just as well written and impactful as many of the movies. They take into account both kids and adults in a way that is satisfying to both but also makes fighting less prevalent. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have glaring issues. While POC characters are more accepted by audiences in these shows, that doesn’t mean that there are nearly enough POC creatives behind the scenes. The voice acting community is largely white and the casts for these animated shows reflect this. The clones for example, who are POC characters, are voice by a white man who can do a killer impression of Temuera Morrison. Ahsoka was changed to Black actress Rosario Dawson for ‘The Mandalorian’ after years of being voiced by a white woman to address the lack of diversity. But it goes even beyond that. ‘The Bad Batch’ recently came under fire for white washing characters. So much so that they are reportedly re-editing some of the episodes that have already been released. And critiques of the lighter skin tones are correct. So far members of The Bad Batch have looked lighter in color than the clones we have seen throughout ‘Clone Wars’ and even young Kanan looks much lighter than he does in ‘Star Wars Rebels’. These things are awful, and they show just how far Disney needs to go before they actually accomplish the diversity they claim to be aiming for. And still, I see far more acceptance for POC characters amongst fans of the animated shows than I do amongst fans of the major theatrical releases. And that’s kind of sad.

The animated series feel like a bit more of a safe space for me in the Star Wars community. They still suffer from major issues, don’t get me wrong, but I see a lot more respect amongst fans here. I don’t feel like I’ll be immediately attacked for my opinions when I talk about an animated show. I don’t feel like I’ll run into fans who are willing to disregard characters because of their race or gender. I see a lot of people lightly making fun of themselves for enjoying kids shows, but even more than that, I see fans praising these shows for being great additions to the Star Wars franchise that everyone can enjoy. And that’s what I wish I could see from all Star Wars fans.

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

Edit: This post previously mentioned my discomfort with actor David Oyelowo playing Agent Kallus in ‘Star Wars Rebels’ due to the obvious lack of prominent Black characters present in the series. I took this out because I don’t feel that a Black actor voicing a white character is a problem, I instead feel that a Black actor voicing a white character in a series devoid of Black representation is the problem. My statement didn’t properly reflect this. Also, as a white person, I’m not completely qualified to discuss this topic.

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Comeback Looks

Image of Kim Namjoon in his video teaser for the upcoming ‘Butter’ single. Copyright goes to HYBE Entertainment and BTS’s social media.

Hi! It’s Annie!

Back to one of my favorite topics, of course, K-Pop. A couple of my favorite groups have comebacks coming out at the end of this month. Of course, I’m talking about BTS and the girl group Everglow. While my sister has already talked about ‘Butter’ more extensively, we’ve recently finally seen a couple of images that show the looks of the boys more closely. And in a similar vein, Everglow released two sets of images to promote their upcoming single album ‘Last Melody’. So, I kind of want to go over each group and their looks for their respective comebacks and give my opinion on each member’s styling this time around. So that’s enough intro, let’s just get into it!

BTS (This will all be based off of teaser photo one):

Namjoon: This man is a straight up liar. We knew that they were hinting that some of their looks would be a serious callback to their ‘Run’ era, but we never expected Namjoon to do this. In an interview that they did not too long ago, Namjoon was asked if he would ever bring his pink hair back. He responded to this question by saying that his pink hair was a ‘no, no’ and then ended it by scrunching his nose drastically and declaring “nah”. But his hair here is definitely pink and he rocks it. For this specific picture he’s in the back so it’s difficult to fully see what he’s wearing, but it looks as though it’s mostly white which makes his hair pop even more. He’s seriously bias wrecking me here with his pink hair. This is why he’s my bias wrecker.

Jin: Jin looks as gorgeous as he always does with his dark hair and wearing white. Seriously, he just looks so handsome in all of the promo images and footage. Jin is just effortlessly handsome, I don’t know what else to say. Many have noticed that he’s one of the members that received some of the least drastic changes and really has been throughout the years. But I see no problem with this. Jin has a classic handsome look to him and this time around they’re really trying to emphasize that. His hair is longer though, which makes the slick backed look even more eye-catching. His shirt is so flowy too, which is very Jin.

Yoongi: He still has that mullet he’s been growing out that we all love. Here he’s also wearing all white, he looks slightly more casual with his posture and shoes. And I’m so happy to see him centering here after he’s been gone for so long. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I’m so happy that he’s back and we’ll get to see him participate in the promotions for ‘Butter’. There would be something completely off if we didn’t have the calm and cool presence of Yoongi. Also, his curly bangs here are killing me.

Hobi: What the hell are they trying to do to Hobi stans? I swear these images almost killed my sister. Hobi looks the most casual with his slightly unbuttoned button-down and sneakers. Hobi looks so attractive for this comeback and it’s really insane. It’s also insane to see that his hair is bleached a yellowish blonde. Not only does the look work for him, especially with his dark roots which makes it stand out even more, but it really reflects the sunflower nature of Hobi. This just feels perfectly hopeful and way too attractive all at the same time. Are you Hobi stans ok?

Jimin: It was difficult to see his hair color in the teaser, but now that this picture is out we can see that he’s not just blonde again like we were all expecting. He’s mostly blonde with streaks of what looks like pink, purple, and blue. Though I would have to get a closer look to see if there are any more colors or if it’s just dual colors. Anyways, he has rainbow hair! I feel like if anyone could pull off rainbow hair, it’s definitely Jimin. This is another hair style that seems to fit his bright personality. I was also surprised that they decided to put Jimin in a darker color as he’s one of the two members wearing grey, but it makes his hair stand out more.

Tae: Tae’s slicked back hair here with the single strand in front of his face is too attractive to be fair in any way. And I think it’s really interesting how formal his outfit here is and also the fact that he’s the only one wearing bright orange. Another style choice that reflects the personality of the member. I can’t say enough about the way Tae is looking at the camera here. And it really is interesting to see that Tae is one of the ones this comeback without colored hair. He really does go back and forth, but I will always have a soft spot for all of their darker colors. Though I have to say, I love whatever any of them do with their hair.

Jungkook: I think we all thought for sure that they had finally cut Jungkook’s hair. This photo, thankfully, proved all of us wrong completely. Jungkook looks more grown up than he ever has before. And that’s funny coming from me considering he’s two years older than I am. He’s with Jimin in wearing the darker suit colors, but his are even darker than Jimin’s. And then of course, his hair. He’s wearing it in a ponytail (yay!) and it’s a really nice shade of dark purple. It is absolutely unfair the way this man looks. For some reason he kind of looks like he could beat me up just based off of the photo, and I’m not completely mad at that.

Everglow:

EU: Honestly, I didn’t even recognize her when these pictures first released. Since last comeback she’s had one of the most drastic changes if not the most drastic. Her bleached blonde hair is now a really dark brown and she has bangs which frame her face completely differently. You can’t really see her outfit for the black themed pictures, but the white themed pictures gives us a full look. They really are going for the fringe this time around, but it’s pretty. I personally preferred her last style, I thought her hair emphasized her features a bit better, but EU looks good with literally anything.

Sihyeon: The black themed photos are another example of the photo looking stunning, but it’s difficult to get the full picture. The white themed picture fully displays her new hair style which is half cut half not. This is a highly stylized hair style that I’m not particularly fond of personally, but I can see why they used it. These pictures are giving me slightly futuristic space vibes, so that hairstyle definitely works for that. Her boots for the white outfit are great though!

Mia: This is another complicated one. So here we actually get to see more of Mia’s hairstyle and outfit in both. This automatically caused some fans to question the style because her hair is in what appears to be three long braids. However, POC fans have assured others that these are regular braids so there probably isn’t anything to worry about. But others might have other opinions and I’m not POC, so I won’t say much about that. This also revealed that the person in the teaser photo is in fact, Mia. People are already outraged that it features only her after all the backlash the company has already gotten over favoriting Mia. And all of her stuff is getting less likes because of it. I really don’t think we should be punishing Mia for the company’s decisions and we should all reserve judgment for when the MV comes out. But I love her outfits in both scenarios, and I especially like her framing bangs!

Onda: Onda’s look is by far my favorite of the looks they released. She looks like an absolute princess in both the black and white themed photos. In both she’s shown wearing different stylized head pieces that look like a medieval princess would wear them. Her black themed outfit is a gorgeous dress and we see less of the white outfit but it definitely looks interesting. I just love how much they went for the princess theming with her here. It suits her so well and makes her stand out, and I’m definitely all for making Onda stand out. Especially because she doesn’t have as many lines in their songs. She’s such an amazing dancer and she deserves more attention.

Aisha: Aisha hasn’t changed too much for this comeback, but she always looks stunning. The white themed picture is just a close up on her face while the black themed picture gives us a lot more to go off of. Her puffed sleeves and cropped shirt also look very princess-like. I really don’t have a whole lot of notes here but it all looks amazing and it’s not too different from her usual style. But that’s completely fine. Kind of like Jin, Aisha has a more classic style and she pulls it off very well.

Yiren: Yiren looks adorable in the pictures we’ve been given. In both looks her hair is up in pigtails, which suits her so well. Her hair is also much lighter than it was last comeback, and I feel the shade of brown really suits her as well. It’s difficult to see too much in the black themed photo because it’s shadowed, but I really like the high neckline with her hair. The white themed photo is so different thematically. These two photos go seamlessly in between badass and pure and Yiren pulls both off.

So those are my feelings on the looks for these two upcoming comebacks! I’m really excited for each and even more now that I know they’re both coming up so quickly! It’ll be here before we know it!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie

Video Games: Mass Effect Male Romance Options Ranked

Screenshot of Thane from ‘Mass Effect 2’. Copyright goes to Bioware and EA.

Hey! Hallie here!

Tonight’s post is a bit later than usual, but that’s because it’s Annie and I’s birthday! To close out the day, I thought I’d make a post about ‘Mass Effect’ to honor one of my favorite game franchises and it’s remake coming out in only a few days! There are a lot of romances in Bioware games, so many that I can’t mention all of the romances in Mass Effect in one post. However, I’m a lot more knowledgable about the male romance options as I’m a straight woman, so I figured I’d rank my favorite romances I’ve gone through in the games! There are definitely SPOILERS ahead so if you’re one of the few who haven’t played these games, I would seriously recommend you look into playing them before diving into spoiler territory. You’ve been warned.

Jacob Taylor: You meet Jacob Taylor during the events of Mass Effect 2 and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He at least embodies a lot of heroic traits when you talk with him. He doesn’t like unnecessary violence and questions being recruited by a group that is known for acts of violence. He’s pretty accommodating of everyone, no matter what species. His care for others leads him to be a voice of both empathy and reason during missions. He doesn’t like mercenaries or assassins because he doesn’t like the idea of people being paid to murder others, which is actually rare to see in the Mass Effect universe. He has some daddy issues, but nothing that’s a major warning sign. Especially around Miranda, who is quite cold and calculating, he can seem like one of the most moral characters on your crew. When it comes to romance he’s a bit hesitant at first. He isn’t really considering a romance at all, let alone with Shepard. But he also isn’t hard to win over either. Maybe the fact that he wasn’t too into it should have been a red flag. I say that because, if you try to continue your romance in Mass Effect 3, he reveals that he not only started another relationship, but his girlfriend is pregnant. He CHEATED on you. What the hell man?

Kaidan Alenko: Is anyone really surprised the human characters ended up in the last two positions? Kaidan is a nice guy. He’s extremely loyal. He’s willing to give up his life for Shepard at any point. Anytime he’s angry at Shepard he’s willing to put it behind him the minute you confront him about it. He’s pretty empathetic, but all of his empathy is either from or directed towards Shepard. No matter what gender Shepard is, it doesn’t matter to him. I think it’s fair to say that even if you don’t pursue a romance with him, he’s still very much in love with you (Unless he’s dead. Looking at all the people who sacrificed him in Mass Effect 1). The issue with Kaidan is that he’s a bit boring. The only story points that seem to try to give him any depth are the ones where he begins to question his loyalty to Shepard, either because of his biotics or because of Cerberus, but by nature of his character he always chooses Shepard. It doesn’t feel like he grows throughout the games. It doesn’t feel like he ever learns to stand on his own. He’s just always falling over you. At moments it can be cute, but more often than not it makes him seem bland.

Garrus Vakarian: Ok, I know this is going to get me a bit of heat. Before I go into this I’d like to say that Garrus is actually my favorite character on this list. He’s the most supportive friend you can find on the Normandy and his sarcasm and understanding attitude make him a good person to vent to. He’s a badass who can hold his own in battle, but he also genuinely cares about your well being. He gets you, and that makes him a joy to talk to. His romance isn’t bad as a whole. But I can’t help but feel that it ruins a bit of a good thing. The friendship with Garrus is amazing. But the romance is so awkward. For one, if you go into this romance you immediately start with asking Garrus to have sex with you. No romantic feelings are expressed by either party. As a person who identifies as Asexual, I’m not super comfortable with a video game forcing your relationship to heavily focus on sex. Garrus’ relationship does this. Garrus’ romance plot in Mass Effect 2 consists entirely of awkwardly trying to plan when the crew will be able to leave the Normandy in the hopes of getting some privacy. Meanwhile, Garrus worries about human bedroom practices. Obviously, I don’t find this romantic. In Mass Effect 3 Garrus starts actively trying to learn about more non-physical relationship customs as well, which is nice. There’s even a fun dance scene you can see if you get the DLC (It’s the only time you will ever see Shepard dance like a normal person), plus some really lovely parting words before the final battle. But as Garrus’ friend you still get a lot of those kind parting words, plus a whole lot less of the awkward innuendo shoved into regular conversation. I love Garrus but this relationship doesn’t win me over.

Thane Krios: Thane’s romance isn’t for everyone. The moment you meet him he lets you know that he’s dying. You don’t know when, because he doesn’t know when, but you know he only has a few years. This is because Thane is suffering from a lung disease common in his species known as Kepral’s Syndrome. So yeah, not the happiest relationship. Thane is also an assassin, so there’s reason to be cautious of him at first. But by talking to him you realize he’s quite a moralistic and even religious man. He prays for all the people he kills and though he once felt it unnecessary to care about what jobs he took, his diagnosis made him decide to right his wrongs and atone for his actions. Conversations with him are always deep and emotional as a result of the time he spends looking back on his life. If you get close enough to him, he even talks about his late wife and the fact that his job has made him absent from most of his teenage son’s life. It’s through helping him reconnect with his son that you actually start a relationship. It’s a genuinely sweet one too. He gives you a nickname after the warrior angels in his religion, he’s always checking in to make sure you’re doing okay, and the relationship grows only when Shepard and Thane open up to each other. It’s never one-sided. Mass Effect 3 is where the relationship gets more depressing. Thane can’t travel with you anymore because he has to stay at a hospital to monitor his worsening condition. He even allows you to opt out of the relationship, knowing how painful it might be to see his health deteriorate. But if you decide to keep going, he sends messages to your ship to check in. Of course, by the end of the game he dies. He has you recite a last prayer with his son, which is actually for you not for him, and then his son gives you all the video messages he filmed for you while you were away. Yeah, bring the tissues for this one. There’s no question that Thane is the most thoughtful of the romance options.

Well that’s it! Apparently I love pain because I put by far the most painful Mass Effect romance at the top of this list, but I’m not going to analyze that right now. Anyways, I can’t wait to see what the remake will look like! I’m ready to experience the pain all over again! Maybe it’ll hurt less this time! (It won’t.)

Don’t do anything fun until I get back!

Hallie

K-Pop and K-Dramas: Imitation Episode 1

Promotional image of (from left) Jeong Yunho, Jeong Jiso, and Lee Junyoung for ‘Imitation’. Copyright goes to KBS and Kakao Entertainment.

Hi! It’s Annie!

An earlier post today. Weird, I know. But the first episode of ‘Imitation’ came out yesterday and of course I had to watch it! I’ve been indescribably hyped for this series since I figured out it was coming out. I should mention that I have actually read the first chapters of the original web toon of the same name, but I was not expecting this to be at all similar. Generally adaptations like this are drastically different from the source material and a lot of the time that’s a good thing. It’s generally changed to suit the screen more. And though I’m not exactly sure how many changes were made, from what I saw and from what people were saying it’s a lot. Of course, this is only the first episode of what is supposed to be a twelve episode series, so it really is only a little bit of what we’ll be getting in the future. And though I really do want to be optimistic, this show probably has to do a lot to win me over. With that said, let’s get into it. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The Good:

ATEEZ:

Right off the bat I have to say how proud I am of our boys. We got to see all four of them act in this episode (for those of you who don’t know the four members of ATEEZ in this drama are Yunho, Jongho, Seonghwa, and San) and they were all great. And I don’t say that lightly. I’ve talked a little bit about this before on the blog, but both my sister and I trained in acting in college. None of the boys felt awkward at any point in the episode. And for the first episode we actually got a lot more of San and Seonghwa than I thought we would. I knew we would get a lot of Yunho and Jongho because they’re playing characters that are slightly more central to the plot, at least in the web toon. We’ll have to see if the show gives San and Seonghwa more to work with. Every single time one of the members came on screen I was uncontrollably beaming. And Yunho was in here doing what he does best. Being a comforting teddy bear. Seriously, so far it feels like this role was meant for him. And can we talk about how adorable Yunho was walking into the press conference for the show yesterday? He looked so happy! I really can’t wait to see more of them acting their asses off.

The Acting:

Speaking of which, I thought everyone did a really good job acting their parts here. I know ATEEZ is not by any means the only idols starring in this show. All of them did amazingly. If you were to completely wipe my memory of any K-pop and ask me to distinguish between the idols and the trained actors on this show, I would not be able to differentiate between them. They were all so good! Nobody was over the top, everything felt realistic and normal; this show just has some great acting.

The K-Drama:

No, I’m not talking about this entire drama as a whole. In both this show and the original web toon the main character, Maha, ends up acting to try and get her group more recognition and also to try and make ends meet. In both, she ends up in an awkward situation because she is playing a small role acting opposite of Kwon Ryok, the brooding idol and the star of the show she is working on. In the web toon, this acting gig is on a show where he is playing a serial killer who specifically preys on women after seducing them. Really not the best. The scene requires him to kill her and he ends up saying things way out of line in order to get a genuine reaction of fear out of her. It’s an absolutely awful and uncomfortable scene. There is nothing about that entire scenario that is even the slightest bit ok. In this, they completely changed the plot of the drama and really everything about that entire scenario. Instead she is playing a small role in a historical drama he is the star of and he accidentally hits her in a combat scene after she was given the wrong fight choreography. This is definitely better and feels much less like assault.

The Side Characters:

After just one episode, the side characters have already caught my attention. And, yes, I am including everyone here who isn’t the lead two characters; Maha and Ryok. The sweetness of Yoojin is already one of my favorite parts of the show. I know that most romance shows go for the leading man that is brooding on the outside and warm on the inside. Personally, I’m always suffering from second lead syndrome because the second lead is always the absolute sweetest and that’s where my weakness is. And now Yunho’s playing the second lead which is just going to make this all the more painful for me. We still need to get more of Yoojin to really get to know his character, but I’m already melting. Hyuk is already way too adorable and I already feel like I’m becoming attached to the members of Shax. And I actually really did like what we got of Hyunji and Riah. They were both characters that seemed very warm and I just wanted to be friends with them. We got some more side characters, like Minsoo and Seyoung for example, that seemed interesting but we haven’t gotten much of them yet. All of the side characters seem lovable so far though.

The Realism:

I’m not an idol, so I can’t say for sure, but this really did feel like a peek into their world. Especially during the early scenes of the episode where we saw the dance practice of the trainees. That was insane and so much fun to watch. The premise of this show is bold and I can get behind that, but I do have some concerns. I’ll get into that below.

The Bad:

Depression Issues:

Please be warned that what I’m going to talk about could be possibly triggering for some people. THIS IS YOUR TRIGGER WARNING. Also note that these are all things that are in the show, which unfortunately does not give anyone a trigger warning at all. Even if you are an ATEEZ fan or a fan of any other group or actor in this show, if you have a high possibility of being triggered I would wait a while before watching. I’m going to start getting into it now. Last warning. The show is, understandably, attempting to tackle dark topics in the industry too. Which is not something I have a problem with at all, I feel like for the most part those topics need to be addressed. But when it comes to depression and featuring it in a show, there’s a line that needs to be walked and it is really difficult to walk. I know it’s unfair to compare anything to ‘Itaewon Class’ which is one of the best series of all time, but that’s the standard for dealing with depression. They were able to make it all realistic and still deal with it with care for the people who might actually be dealing with that. It was almost comforting in a way and their depression was never sensationalized for drama. Here’s where this show is already failing and, by far, this is my biggest issue with the show. The first episode contains a suicide and it is not handled well at all in the slightest. Especially with them drawing this drama out in order to make the audience question whether or not she really died. And when they’re doing this, they go for all of the dramatic shots. Including one of the bridge in South Korea where they have comforting phrases written on it in order to comfort people with depression. None of this is done with care and compassion and all of it feels like a plot device. I’m not talking about the moment where the CEO of that one company complains about how that girl’s death would effect the company, because that was done for realism. It is entirely different when a character from the show is unsympathetic and when the writing and shooting of the show feels unsympathetic. This was not handled with care or sympathy nor is it even talked about in depth. I’m not going to talk about this again in this post so EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS POST IS SAFE. Thanks.

The Main Characters:

Neither of them have really won me over yet. And I know this was just the first episode, but I was seriously surprised at how much literally all of the side characters won me over and how I still didn’t feel so much of a connection with the two main ones. It felt like this first episode was trying to establish that Maha was awkward and Ryok was brooding and we didn’t get much beyond either of those things for either character. I feel like the only break in this was when Maha accidentally caught Ryok practicing a scene for the drama they were shooting. That scene was cute; but we definitely have a long way to go before we get to feeling the complexity of these characters.

Group Dynamics:

I think it’s going to take a while to truly start seeing group dynamics, because this was only the first episode. But my sister and I did notice that you really have to watch some of this with the eye of a television show viewer and not with they eye of a K-pop fan. Because most groups out there have been working together for a long time so everything they do on stage is really in sync. I would say that happens for most groups. They’ve worked on it to a point where they don’t even have to think about it anymore because they’re just comfortable with each other. That doesn’t come across here as much, especially when we saw Shax performing. They were still insanely good, this is just a massive nitpick. And I’m not sure I would expect any show to have this down either unless all of the people they cast were from the same idol group.

The Imitation:

In the web toon one of the main reasons why the group ‘Tea Party’ gets so big is because Maha looks like another idol singer, La Lima. People noticed when the casting for this show was announced that the actresses didn’t really look like each other. In the series Maha dresses up as La Lima for a small gig and the clip goes viral, seemingly because it’s funny and not because she really looks like her. At least that’s what I thought, I was a little confused. I understand that it’s very difficult to find actresses who look that alike so I’m not taking too many points off here. But I am extremely confused as to what they’ll end up doing with this in the future.

That’s it so far! There was a lot that I loved and a lot that I didn’t like so much. I have to say, the way they dealt with depression is a big red flag for me. That was probably the main thing that made me not enjoy this first episode as much as I could have and made me nervous for the future of this show. I’m just hoping that if they continue to bring stuff like this up they’ll stop over sensationalizing it. But I have already fallen in love with so many of the characters and seeing ATEEZ here just made me so happy. So I guess we’ll see what happens with the next episode!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie