September 2015 in Review (Plus Personal Update #7)

Hello blogging world! As you might have noticed, I didn’t write any reviews this month. Why? Well, we’ll get to that later. However, due to that, I had a lot, and I mean A LOT, of potential videos to include in my review of September. There were a few tough decisions that had to be made, but here I am now with my top ten favorite music videos from September.

There were a lot of comebacks this month that I was really looking forward to and some that really surprised me!

Red Velvet “Dumb Dumb”

• Song: 4.5/5
• Cinematography: 2/5
• Dance: 4/5

I didn’t have a very good impression of Red Velvet when they first debuted, but I can’t dislike this song even if I tried. It is one catchy song! I just can’t get it out of my head.  The video on the other hand…I have tried looking at it from all different angles, but I just can’t find meaning to it. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that maybe I just don’t understand it, but after checking other reviews, it seems as though everyone is just as confused as I am. They throw so many different images at you with little to no explanation. I can see a doll theme, but no direction or meaning behind it.

Overall Final Score: 3.5/5

SEVENTEEN “Mansae”

• Song: 3.5/5
• Story: 2.5/5
• Cinematography: 4.5/5
• Dance: 4.9/5

Aside from the story, this is all around a pretty impressive video. The dance completely blows me away. It is so sharp and synchronized. I think it is one of the best dances of the year. As for the story, it is cute watching all of the guys falling for the girl. However, I wish there was more direction in the story. It focuses on a bunch of members, but then in the end, S.Coup randomly emerges as the main character. On the plus side, the acting is great in this video. I am especially impressed with S.Coups and Jeonghan.

Sidenote: Jeonghan totally looks like a real life Yuki from Fruits Basket. Who else knows what I’m talking about??

Overall Final Score: 3.9/5

Jessi “SSENUNNI”

• Song: 4.5/5
• Cinematography: 4.5/5
• Dance: 3.9/5

This song is my JAM! Jessi impresses all with her fierce performance in this video. I absolutely love her style and overall confidence in this video. She plays both the pretty girl and the tough girl, which fits perfectly with the lyrics of the song. This music video is all about girl power realness, showing images of her easily beating a male fighter. I am so happy that they include a dance in this. The live performance may be lacking compared to other dances, but the clips that they include in the actual video are perfect.

After watching this, all I can think about is how amazing a duet between Ailee and Jessi would be.

Overall Final Score: 4.3/5

Super Junior “Magic”

• Song: 3.5/5
• Story: 3/5
• Cinematography: 4.9/5
• Dance: 3.9/5

If you read my fangirl post, you already know how much I love this video. Objectively speaking, I don’t think the song is all that great or unique. Even the video is one that has been made before, however it is still fun and entertaining from beginning to end. It is cute seeing all of the members try to woo the girl, but I found the end to be unsatisfying. While the story included most the members, Kangin was one of the few members who was not actually part of the story at all, yet he is the one who the girl chooses in the end. That doesn’t make any sense. Regardless, it is a fun video even if it has an unexpected ending. I am also particularly impressed with Heechul’s English. I really like his rap in this song.

Overall Final Score: 3.8/5

Roh Ji Hoon “If You Were Me”

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

HE IS FINALLY BACK! The moment I played the song, I realized just how much I missed Roh Ji Hoon’s voice these past couple of years. The song is beautiful, and the story is just too cute.  It is the love story between Roh Ji Hoon and a blind girl who he meets, which is not unheard of in the world of K-pop plots, but it is definitely unique compared to the typical story. The way they show the buildup of their relationship really makes this video special, and the fact that is has a happy ending is all the more reason to love it. I noticed the actress break character a couple of times, but regardless, it is still a really sweet video. I have seen at least two videos now with a blind girl that ends tragically, so I was very happily surprised to see such a positive ending for this one.

Overall Final Score: 4.8/5

Amber “Beautiful”

• Song: 4/5
• Cinematography: 4/5

This song is all about being beautiful no matter how people judge you, so it feels wrong for me to sit here and judge it. This music video is basically Amber’s baby, from the lyrics to the directing to the the editing, which makes me reluctant to say anything bad about it. However, as I am with all of my reviews, this is not a form of bashing, but rather constructive criticism about points that I hope are addressed in future music video production and consumption. That being said, I personally would have liked to see a little more of a dynamic storyline in this video. Not a whole lot changes from beginning to end, making the video a little dull for me. The song is beautiful, which is of course the most important part, and I like the childhood photos that appear, but I would have liked to see more for the video.

Overall Final Score: 4/5

GOT7 “If You Do”

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

If I had the time, I would write a full review of this video. This is definitely one of the best music videos of the year. I can already say that.  The song has a very nice beat, and everyone really impressed me with their singing and rapping, especially Yugyeom, BamBam, and Junior. We have had plenty of songs like this in the past, but lately not so much, so this was very refreshing. The story portrayed each member lashing out in their own ways as a result of their relationship frustrations, and I couldn’t help but feel their pain with them. The acting is incredible in this, especially from Junior. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up during his part. It does feel a bit incomplete though to see literally every single person beat something up except for Mark.

Sidenote: I don’t take lyrics into account when I score videos, but I have to mention how great and poetic these lyrics are. The moment that simply takes my breath away is the very first line. Junior sings “If you do it, it’s good; if I do it, it’s over” with “good” sung in English and “over” sung as “kkeut” in Korean (끝). “Good” and “kkeut” literally sound exactly the same, but when translated in context with the rest of the verse, have opposite meanings. It is just so clever and poetic, and because I’m a language junkie, I had to share.

Overall Final Score: 4.5/5

Ailee “Mind Your Own Business”

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

This song and video is not Ailee’s best, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. As always, Ailee has beautiful musicality in her voice and the melody of the verses is really nice. The story can be a bit immature and strange at times, but it definitely screams girl power. Ailee and her crew spend the video getting back at the guy for being a jerk to Ailee. I really like the concept, but there are a couple of moments that don’t make sense to me. Why would Ailee just sell out her crew – who are only there to help her – and hide from the police while they are arrested? And how in the world did she get the key to escape from prison? Complaints aside, there are some images that I really like in this, for example the guy crying over his car and the fact that he had to call a bunch of girls to save him from…other girls. Also, who doesn’t love that final scene of Ailee and her crew posing for their mug shots?

Overall Final Score: 4.1/5

iKon “Airplane”

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

Of iKon’s three debut music videos, I like this one the best. It’s ironic because Rhythm Ta is actually more my style, but I am just not feeling that one. This song is nice and mellow, and the rapping and singing go along with each other really well. I am so disappointed that this video does not have a happy ending! The poor Best Friend (not sure what his name is, but it’s the friend who is not Bobby) not only gets third wheeled even though he the one who actually pays attention to the girl and cares for her, but in the end he misses the flight to finally be with her! It is a well thought out story, but I was really hoping for a happier ending. I really felt for the Best Friend in this video. His reaction in the restaurant scene when the girls feeds Bobby and not him is priceless.

Question for my YG fans out there: Can someone explain to me exactly what iKon is? Is this Team B or a brand new group? I don’t follow the behind the scenes of YG groups really at all, so I didn’t know anything about iKon before they debuted. I don’t see how this group is any different from Winner.

Overall Final Score: 4.2/5

Now for my personal update. …It’s been a while, hasn’t it? It’s about time I answered some questions.

Where have I been?

Everywhere. Sort of. I started school again, and boy has that been keeping me busy. Not only am I taking my normal set of classes, but I am now working a job and a new internship, all of which has made me incredibly busy this semester. I literally have not been able to sleep properly due to being so busy, let alone keep up with music videos and reviews. Most of the music videos that came out this month I didn’t even get a chance to watch until last week. I am struggling just to keep up with my school work and keeping myself healthy. Blogging has been at the far back of my mind.

So…what’s going to happen to this blog?

Well, I’m not going anywhere if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m thinking that for the rest of 2015, which is the length of my semester, I will have to stick with only posting these end of the month review posts. Anything more than that is going to take up way too much time out of my schedule. I hate to cut out my normal reviews, but I have to remember my priorities. School and work come first. Then comes blogging.

I still have one random non-review piece I have been meaning to put together, so you can keep an eye out for that, but I don’t really have a plan yet on exactly when that will be uploaded. And of course I always have ideas of other non-review posts, but now it’s just a matter of finding the time to write them.

Question for you all: I’ve been thinking of starting a new series on this blog. They would be much more of opinion pieces rather than reviews. I’m thinking some kind of monthly or bi-weekly post where I simply reflect on the things that are happening in the K-pop world and share my thoughts on them (like B.A.P’s news of comeback or Donghae and Eunhyuk preparing to leave for the military). Is this something you would like to read?

Finally, what ever happened to Throwback Thursdays?

I still have a couple more of these to post! I know, it’s been about three weeks since my last one, but I am determined to see this project through to the end. My review of Twins is coming. I promise.

That’s it from me this month! I threw a lot of information at you in this post, and I apologize for that. As always, thank you all so much for reading and supporting. Please let me know what you think of the new series!

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Question of the Day:

What were your favorite comebacks this past month?

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