Girl's Day - "Darling" music video

Girl's Day has released a new video for their song "Darling".

It seems like lately K-pop music videos have been giving me the same mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm a not a fan of the "sexy concept" at all, and the number of shots of their butts in this music video is ridiculous. On the other hand, this song is super catchy, the video is well-made, and the girls are actually adorable when the camera focuses on something besides their rear ends.

Obviously Girl's Day has been trying to push this "sexy concept" a lot lately, since songs like "Expectation" and "Something" have been some of their most popular songs. (Those two were so over the top for me that I never finished watching either video.) But it seems now they're remembering that they also had a hit back in the day with "Twinkle Twinkle", which was cute and quirky. This video seems to be a combination of the two styles, which is rarely ever attempted, but in this case I think it actually worked.

The song is so catchy and fun, and probably one of my favorite summer songs this year. I've only listened to it a couple times and it's already stuck in my head. It sounds like something Secret would do, actually. It's bouncy, happy, sweet... it makes me wanna sing and dance along. The replay value of this song is very, very high, and I have no doubt I'll listen to it at least once more this summer.

The music video is where my feelings are slightly mixed, but I've already gone over how I feel about the "sexy concept" so I'll just skip that part, because I don't think I'll say anything that everyone else hasn't already said.

The video is very bright, with lots of yellow and orange, but your eyes will adjust after a few seconds (probably). There's lots of summer fun in this video, from chilling at the pool to playing darts or washing a car. None of it really has anything to do with the song, but it is amusing to watch. As I said before, the girls are absolutely adorable in this video. It makes me miss their "Twinkle Twinkle" days just a little bit.

I also enjoyed the combination of dance scenes; there are four different combinations of locations and outfits. It really gave the video a lot of variety, and I wish more groups would use this many different sets more.

Overall, I'd say my thoughts on this are mostly positive. If Girl's Day can continue to release catchy songs like this, I may forgive them for changing their image so abruptly. The truth is that the members really are talented, and I'd hate to stop listening to them simply because they look different now.

If you enjoyed this song, you can buy it on Girl's Day's new EP Everyday 4, which released yesterday! Let me know your thoughts on this song and video, too.

Juice=Juice - "Black Butterfly" music video

Juice=Juice released the full PV of their song "Black Butterfly" on Friday.

As with their last two singles, Juice=Juice continues the formula of having two A-sides: the first with a dark PV, the second with a light one. "Ijiwaru Shinai de…" was sort of jazzy, "Hadaka no KISS" had flamenco style dancing, and now "Black Butterfly" has tango.

I'm not really feeling this song to be honest. The tango style sounds great in the verses, especially on Karin's lines, but most of the song is pretty forgettable. Worst of all is those background vocals on the "black butterfly" line. It clashes with the soft sound of the song and just... sounds bad to me.

As for the music video, it's also lacking in memorability. Everything is black and dark, and the flowers on the ground remind me too much of "Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game". One thing that did stand out to me, however, was the dance formation that looked like a butterfly, with Karin in the center of course.

As I always say, maybe it'll grow on me. "Ai wa Itsumo Kimi no Naka ni" was similar to "Black Butterfly" in that it didn't have a pop sound at all, but after initially not liking the Berryz' song, it grew on me and is now one of my favorites. So maybe "Black Butterfly" still has a chance?

If you like this song, you can buy it on July 30 as part of the single "Black Butterfly / Kaze ni Fukarete".

Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 1

I'M LATE!

Mom, why didn't you tell me Sailor Moon Crystal premiered on Saturday?!!! *falls down stairs*

...okay, so actually I knew that. If you must know, I was out of town over the weekend and didn't get to watch the episode -- er, excuse me, "act" -- until late Monday. And then I took three days to write about it because... I have no idea why. But I'm here now!

Disclaimer: please remember that I have barely seen any of the original Sailor Moon, and I don't share the same nostalgia that most fans have. So if I make some stupid newb comment during the course of this review, forgive me!

As I said, I watched this episode late on Monday. I was very excited before that it would be airing through Hulu, as I have Hulu Plus and could watch it on my TV, but unfortunately my Wii U is unable to properly time the captions, and I couldn't read what they were saying until a second after it was said. I tried to use this to practice my Japanese listening skills, trying to determine what they were saying before the captions came up, but bouncing between languages like that just hurt my head so I gave up on the listening part near the end. So, yeah, from now on I will be watching this on my computer. :(

Anyway, onto the show!

The new series opens with shots of space and planets in an intro lasting about a minute and a half. Kind of like how a movie would start. No credits, no narration, just music.

After a few quick shots of Serenity, we are shown the Tsukino house, where Usagi once again does her famous "late for school" gag. After Usagi falls down the stairs and runs out the door in a rush, her mom wishes she would learn something from Sailor V.

Then the opening sequence starts, and oh it is GLORIOUS!

"Wait a sec, is that CG?" you ask. Well guess what, you're gonna see a lot more of that later.

All you "Moonlight Densetsu" lovers had better also get used to the new rocking, energetic, girl-power-themed "MOON PRIDE" opening song by Momoiro Clover Z. The scenes in this sequence are great as well, but seriously, that theme song!

Sailor Moon classic episode 1: "The Crybaby: Usagi's Beautiful Transformation"
Sailor Moon Crystal episode 1: "Usagi - Sailor Moon-"
...how original.

Calling it now: episode 2 will be "Ami - Sailor Mercury-".
Oh I just checked Wikipedia and that actually is the name of it. Crap.

So Usagi runs full speed to school and accidentally trips over an adorable kitty with a band-aid on her forehead. Usagi peels off the bandage to reveal a crescent moon shape on the cat's forehead. Suddenly she remembers she's late for school and dashes away from the mysterious cat.

Even then, she's still late for school, gets thrown into the hallway, gets caught eating in the hallway, and learns that she only scored a 30 on her English test.

...does all this sound familiar to you guys? Because I'm getting really bored re-capping it.

Naru and Umino look the same as always, Sailor V is still a legend, Usagi is still crushing on the guy at the arcade, blah blah blah... exact same stuff we saw in the classic series, just with new animation. Yawn.

Oh, but here's a change: one of the highlights of the episode, Mamoru's first appearance. Now I know some people said they hated Mamoru's clothes from the classic series, but is making him wear a tuxedo on his first appearance really the answer? Do you know how much dumber this will make Usagi look in the later episodes? "Gee, I wonder what that Tuxedo Mask guy's real identity is. Surely he's not the same as the one who wears a tuxedo all the time!"

"Who wears a tuxedo in the afternoon? What a show off!"

As before, Usagi gets kicked out of the house for scoring horribly on her test. Then Naru discovers that the lady running the jewelry store earlier that day is really a monster disguised as her mother, and is using the jewelry to drain energy from the customers.

In Usagi's room, the cat returns and introduces herself as Luna. Luna then gives Usagi her transformation brooch. I was a little irritated that it looks totally different then it did in the original anime, but then I looked it up and realized that's how it looks in the manga.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for...

MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE UP!

I told you the CG would come back, didn't I?

Usagi hears Naru in danger and rushes to her aid. (By the way, they didn't include my favorite scene from the original, which was when the monster lady turned her head all the way around to look at Sailor Moon. It was so creepy it was awesome.)

What would Sailor Moon be without her signature introduction speech?

And her signature obnoxious crying. It's so irritating I can't help but love her for it.

Moon also uses her first attack here. This attack has actually gone through multiple names. In the original manga, it was "Moon Frisbee". In the original anime, it was "Moon Tiara Action". In the live-action series, it became "Moon Tiara Boomerang", and since then the manga and anime have both changed to use this name. I sometimes like to shout the attacks along with the characters, so I have a feeling for the next few episodes I'll be screaming "MOON TIARA AC-- dang it!"

Thus Sailor Moon defeats her first monster and officially meets Tuxedo Mask. The episode ends with a look at a mysterious new character (spoiler alert: it's Mercury).

So there it is you guys, the long-awaited Sailor Moon re-boot.

Was I disappointed? Heck no! Great animation, great music, and Mitsuishi Kotono still rules at voicing Usagi.

Was I bored out of my mind watching this? ...maybe. Obviously you can't drastically change the first episode of Sailor Moon. It's practically iconic by itself. But to me, I just couldn't really get into it for most of it. Perhaps it was more entertaining for those haven't seen the first episode since the 90s, and are in this purely for the nostalgia. As for me, it was almost painful having to watch this twice so I could review it.

I'm extremely excited, however, for Act 2. Crystal will only be twenty-six episodes long (about half the length of the original series), so it's clear they're introducing the team members much quicker. Thank goodness. It took so freaking long in the original that I never even got to the episodes with Jupiter back when I watched it.

I hope you all enjoyed my first Sailor Moon review! Comment about what you thought of the episode, what you thought of my review, and what you expect for the next act! New episodes air every other week, so Act 2 will be next Saturday.

I will do my best to review every episode, so follow my blog if you want to read more of my stupid, newbie, rant-ish comments on what is looking to be a great series so far!

G.R.L. - "Ugly Heart" MV

On Tuesday, G.R.L. released their second music video, "Ugly Heart".



The song is okay. The chorus is catchy, but musically I feel like I've heard this song before. The vocals sound good as well, but for some reason I seriously doubt that they would sound that good live. I kind of like the lyrics; I do enjoy hearing a song where a girl realizes that the inside is more important than appearances, and acts on that knowledge, instead of the "Oh you're so bad for me but you're so hot I don't wanna leave you!" crap that I've heard too many times before. I like that it's a more playful breakup song as well.

As for the video... bleh. The plot of the video basically features the girls getting arrested. For what? No one knows. And the setting has literally nothing to do with the song. My theory is that the producers thought having them be arrested would give them some sort of "cool" bad girl image. The worst part is the close-up shots at the bridge; I have a feeling most guys aren't watching the girl doing the close-up.

So basically G.R.L. proves in this video that they bring nothing new to the industry. It's the same catchy yet at the same time boring pop that can be sung by any other female artist. They're only purpose here is to look sexy for their male fans.

I don't know why I didn't expect this before, since they're created by Robin Antin, who's known for groups like this (think Pussycat Dolls, Girlicious, etc.). But I really wanted them to be consistently good, since "Vacation" is some of the catchiest crap I've ever heard, and their dancing looked really good and fun. But with "Ugly Heart", my expectations have dropped.

Will I stop listening to them? No, not yet. Will I ever buy anything of theirs? Highly doubt it.

I can't wait for Fifth Harmony to make their comeback and show these grls how it's done. #BO$$

KARA adds new member: Youngji

 

After Nicole and Jiyoung left KARA earlier this year, DSP launched the Kara Project. Seven trainees would compete, and two would be chosen by votes to become new members of KARA. Well, that two ended up becoming one, and the winner was declared to be Heo Younji (19), bringing KARA to a four-member line-up, similar to the one they had when they debuted.

Honestly, I didn't actually follow this audition. I saw it when it began, but I just wasn't interested enough to keep up with it. So I can't say if maybe another member should have been chosen instead. (Though I loved Puretty so any of the three former members who auditioned would've been great for me.) After looking up videos of Youngji (do you know how many times I've almost called her Jiyoung by accident?), I can say that she's a good singer, and a good dancer, and she has a face that would fit well with the group.

 

The thing about Youngji is, to me, she doesn't seem like she will ever stand out. The question is whether or not that's a good thing. On the one hand, this is a big change for KARA, who has had the same line-up for almost six years. If you add someone who has a totally different image, she would stick out too much and make it feel like it's not the same group that we've known all this time, possibly upsetting long-time KARA fans.

On the other hand, if she blends too much with the rest of the group, then she won't be adding anything, leaving all of us wondering why they even bothered to add a new member.

This is all speculation on my part; as I said, I didn't keep up with the audition, so I don't know as much about this girl as others do. As always, I will have to wait until she actually debuts with the group to make my final judgment.

For now, I will just say congrats, Youngji. I hope you have success and that the Kamilia will truly accept you as part of the group.

KARA will debut their new line-up in August in both Korea and Japan.