July 2015 in Review

I’m back!

This is somewhat of a continuation of my June in Review post from a couple of weeks ago. These are all of the music videos from July that I missed while I was fasting from K-pop during Ramadan.

9Muses “Hurt Locker”

• Song: 4.5/5
• Cinematography: 3/5
• Dance: 4/5

I’m not into 9Muses, but I can’t deny that this is a catchy song. There is some really good singing in this. Kyungri especially impressed me in this. The rap is also great. As for the video, there are so many appealing colors in this. The purple and red outfits complement the colorful boxcars in the background, and I think those scarf-skirts are just the cutest. One question: Why trains? The cars driving around the train yard are just…random.

Overall Final Score: 3.8/5

INFINITE “Bad”

• Song: 5/5
• Story: 4.5/5
• Cinematography: 4.9/5
• Dance: 4/5

O_O

That was literally my face as I watched this music video for the first time. I think this is INFINITE’s best music video of their career, and quite possibly my new favorite song of the year. The song is about the boys feeling as though they are losing themselves while in a relationship with a “bad” girl, and the video shows Sunggyu literally running away from himself as well as other images of the members watching themselves in the mirror. The colors are imagery are beautiful. By the end of the video, we see the girl haunting their images and distracting them from working through their identity crises. I don’t think this is INFINITE’s best dance, but the poetry and imagery in this video definitely makes up for it.

Overall Final Score: 4.6/5

GOT7 “Just Right”

• Song: 4.9/5
• Story: 4.9/5
• Cinematography: 5/5
• Dance: 4.5/5

I finally figured out GOT7’s image. They aren’t aegyo mixed with hip hop; they are just flirts. I swear, I have never seen a more flirty group before. This song is just so much fun. I can’t get enough of the chorus. With a cute song comes an adorable video with a really sweet and uplifting storyline. GOT7 are like the little mice in Cinderella, there to help the girl see for herself just how beautiful she is. She listens to their message and then learns to have fun and love herself. The dance that goes along with the video is just as cute as the song itself. The pointing move and the little bounces in the instrumental after the chorus are too precious. All in all this is entire comeback was put together so well. The only points I really take off for is for cheesiness.

I must add that after looking up the lyrics to this song, I think this is officially the sweetest music video ever.

Overall Final Score: 4.8/5

APink “Remember”

• Song: 3/5
• Cinematography: 3.5/5
• Dance: 2.5/5

After watching this video, I just think even more that APink is one of the prettiest girl groups out there. The song has a nice instrumental, although I am not a fan of how the pitch changes in the chorus. I am not quite sure what the overall concept or setting is supposed to be for this video, whether they are at home pretending to be on a beach or if they just can’t decide on one place. The dance is a little lackluster, leaving this video without a very strong impression to me.

Overall Final Score: 3/5

Super Junior “Devil”

• Song: 3.5/5
• Story: 2/5
• Cinematography: 2/5
• Dance: 4/5

Ah, the long awaited arrival of my boys. I must admit, I find this to be one of Super Junior’s weaker videos. The whole 19+ rating really disappointed me, especially considering that the whole reason why I started liking Super Junior and K-pop over other music genres was because of the lack of rated images. This wasn’t as bad as other music videos, but I can’t say I was proud to be an ELF while watching these boys have underwear-clad models sitting around them like props.

Video aside, I love the dance and wardrobe. This concept suits Donghae, Siwon, and Leeteuk particularly well. The song is growing on me. I am not a fan of all of the falsetto, but the beat is definitely catchy.

Overall Final Score: 2.9/5

Wanna.B “Attention”

• Song: 4/5
• Cinematography: 3.5/5
• Dance: 4/5

This video is meant to get attention and I think it does just that. The song is decent, and I can tell from the bit of harmonizing in the chorus that there are some pretty strong voices in this group. The video shows them all glamorous, which does get attention, but after that there isn’t really a whole lot more to this video. They got my attention, but now what am I watching? It would have been nice if there was a little bit more to the video besides them just dancing. It isn’t a bad video, but for a debut, I would have appreciated more.

Overall Final Score: 3.8/5

TVXQ! “Rise as One” (Sung by Max)

• Song: 5/5
• Story: 4/5
• Cinematography: 4.5/5

This feels like end of the year montage music. There is something really uplifting and inspirational about this video. I have seen a few theories thrown around about the meaning of this video. The way I see it: The two little boys are younger versions of Yunho (U-Know) and Changmin (Max). As children, they have all of these aspirations and dreams, so they create a TV system to display all of those dreams. They then burn the TVs down and actually go out and fulfill their dreams. The meaning behind the adult TVXQ? This may be symbolizing them looking back on their lives and all that they have accomplished.

This is one song I really would have loved to see performed at 2015’s end of the year shows. It is such a shame that we most likely won’t here this song performed live for at least another two years, if even at all.

Overall Final Score: 4.5/5

After all of that, I am still torn between GOT7 and INFINITE as my favorite comebacks from this month. I do have to say though, I think GOT7 might be slightly higher. That whole video is just too cute.

When it comes to albums though, Super Junior undoubtedly rises above all others. I may not be crazy about their video, but my entire month as been consumed by their new album. ❤

---

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What was YOUR favorite July Comeback?

---

Wanna talk K-pop? Follow me on Twitter @mystification86!