#i think idols with very clear strong voices but not a lot of unique vocal colour shine so bright on their own songs

[slytherinshua]

i've listened to inseong covers a lot and tbh i usually don't fall in love with his voice over the original, but when it comes to him singing on sf9 songs slap inseong on that chorus and i am on my knees

[ohwiseswami]

WARNING: LONG POST.

NCT Wish is the most compelling boy group to debut in awhile and that's no shade to any of these other boy groups. They just have a perfect combination of talent, potential, good production/vision for what they're going to be, charisma, hyung line visuals, and it-factor.

Like when Sion performs he serves in a way that reminds me of Yeonjun. Man dances his ass off and adds his own sense of musicality to every move. His lines are always so precise and his body shape adds to the look of the moves (long ass legs).

When Riku exists, his face card and charisma is unmatched. And he performs like old-school YG idols. Plus, he has that confident idgaf but am grateful for my opportunity vibe (lmao) that is so hard to cultivate in kpop idols. I straight up cannot name a single idol, ever, let alone one that has debuted under SM, that has that type of it factor.

Vocal Line. Their vocal line is solid for 4th/5th gen standards and I can definitely see them improving to the NCT standard. But what they already have with a 19-year-old leading the pack is wild already and covers different tonal ranges (Yushi and Daeyoung for the higher register light and round vocal, respectively; and Ryo and Sion for the lower register light and round vocal, respectively).

Rap Line. Flow-wise rap line is already one of the strongest in SM. Listen, we all know that's not SM's strong suit so it's not a high bar to clear lmao. But even within NCT--with SM's strongest rappers--you can see Wish's rapline's placement. I think Riku and Sakuya are really only second to Mark and Taeyong and we shouldn't even argue this point. Also, Wish's rap line has rule of cool w/Riku fronting which adds a lot. Cherry on top is that, like other SM rap lines, Riku and Sakuya also have pleasant vocals (especially Riku) to go along with their nice rap style.

Dance Line. Dance line is led by one of the most musical and natural dancers I've seen in awhile (Sion). Then there's a lot of young talent in Ryo and a cool/confident-efficient style in Riku. Some might consider Yushi to be one of the best dancers in Wish but--and I say this respectfully--no. (S/n: Respectfully, their dance ranking is like this: Sion, Ryo, Riku, Yushi, [a brick wall] Sakuya, Daeyoung. I think Sakuya's big problem is his taller height making him look a little awkward at times--but that can be overcome with age and practice). A Sion-Ryo-Riku dance line has potential to be one of the better dance lines in their generation (though Ryo will need to grow more since sometimes I notice his small stature physically limits him, and Riku will have to execute every move with the same power and fluidity as he does in killing parts).

Overall Performance Skills. Their overall performance style is energetic and visually interesting, if a bit stiff/awkward sometimes (probably due to nervousness). But one thing I can really appreciate is their stable live vocals while dancing. No one else can do that in the past couple of generations' boy groups and I commend them for that. And they've gotten some really unique choreographies so far that would look stupid if performed by anyone else, yet look nice on them (kind of like some of SHINee's choreos). Lastly on this point, their sound is very appropriate and matches their voices.

Variety/Personalities/Image. As for their variety skills, we haven't seen much from them and SM is obviously pushing certain images on them. Like it's clear what they're going for:

parent-type leader Sion

hot guy/possessor of a single brain cell that sometimes works Riku

complete idol/perfect role model-type Yushi

pure vocal/older brother-type Daeyoung (or Jaehee, whatever they're wanting him to go by)

super baby genius/atheletically gifted Ryo

chaotic maknae Sakuya

Despite the personalities SM is assigning them, their real personalities seem to shine through (which heavily contrasts their assigned roles in the group). This is a good thing. And as they get more experienced, I expect that what seems to be their real personalities will come out more in variety, social media, and interviews (a la TXT). This will do wonders for them because everybody knows that SM's assigned personalities are always boring and patronizing lmao.

The Issue All The Dumb People Have With Them. Now, the elephants in the room: the two 16 year olds and predominantly recent trainees under the NCT brand. Honestly, this doesn't bother me as much as it does other people. I know people want a mature/suave concept but like...that doesn't mean the kids aren't talented? I admit I'd like to see Sion and Riku do something a little more akin to 127 style but what they have so far is actually pretty good and very on brand with 127. Despite the fact that they skew younger, they don't sound too kidz-boppy like when Dream first debuted.

And when it comes to watching their content/you hoes wanting something to thirst after, you can just choose to only pay attention to hyung line lmao. Like the group as a whole is super talented and ready to debut to the world. HOWEVER, to me, clearly Sion-Riku-Yushi catch your attention very easily, with Sion and Riku feeling like damn near generations apart from Sakuya. I've watched some of their variety and Sion and Riku give similar vibes with Sakuya as Taeyong & Doyoung do with Mark & Haechan. And when it's just Sion and Riku, you feel a completely different vibe than when they're with the other members. I like that, so I tend to gravitate toward Sion-Riku (and sometimes Yushi) content.

I find the line of thought that you have to bias every single member weird because it puts people in fucked up positions. You don't have to force yourself to be interested in every member. Of course there's even downsides to that (like people thinking you only like, say, Sion, for his visuals/so you can thirst), but it's not nearly as dire as the other scenario. If you naturally like Sion more, even if it's for a superficial reason, you shouldn't feel bad about being perceived as an akgae. You don't have to want to get to know all the members. Plus, if someone is policing the way you consume your entertainment they're a loser lmao.

Also, that being said, if you're over 18, it's not that you can't find Sakuya/Ryo entertaining. You can obviously think they're talented, funny, etc.

Also want to say that all the people mad at this group for existing because of their ages are moving real weird because half of y'all stan enhypen and also stanned older groups when they had underage maknaes (despite you yourselves being adults at the time). It comes off as hateration.

Then there's the folks mad at them for not being RIIZE lmao. Those people are just weirdos that honestly don't even deserve to be addressed. Like who cares that SungTaro aren't in NCT? They got to debut, didn't they? They're successful, aren't they? And they will probably continue to interact with 127, Way-V, and Dream more than even Wish will lol. You can still ship RIIZE with NCT folks (since that's really what this is about...), calm down.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Wish and hope SM will give them bangers.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I’m black and American so to me JK doesn’t have generic vocals. Personally he’s gonna out sing a lot of people. JK and Jimin have the best vocals out the vocal line but JK is a stronger singer. Sounding like the singer is not a bad thing because it actually shows his musical hear is crazy good. Jimin and JK can run and riff. Do you know how hard it is to do? There’s so many notes in one run. I know you and anons are upset about what’s happening with Jimin but JK is actually a great singer. Jimin could be even better if he would work with a vocal coach that could harness his unique voice. I love his lower register and I wish he’d use it more. He’s getting older and that higher register will be unsustainable. Also, from western eyes I don’t see JK as a “super straight” male. Like Jimin I see JK has both feminine and masculine traits.

I'd like to first make some points clear:

I never said Jungkook is not a good singer. I wouldn't call anyone in BTS a "great" singer tho; just good is okay. I also think JK has had some bad vocal moments especially after 2019. I haven't felt he's as strong as a singer as he used to be; stronger than Jimin yeah, maybe, but imo he used to sound better. His vocal chords seem to have thinned lately, I don't know if that makes sense. It could be because of the way they have been made to sing these past years. I did talk once about his voice in BTS early albums.

I also think that Jimin's chords are just thinner than they normally are for males and frailer (if you could call them that?) and there's really nothing he can do about it. He's been practicing a lot, tho, according to what he's said. However, his tone, the one he usually sings in is very distinctive and my guess is that he wants to utilize it precisely because it's different.

There's so many people in music, trying to make a living of it and you'd see that most are after that distinct sound, distinct look or vibe that would make the public pay attention to them. There's already so much of the same so like even female rappers in the US are trying to put their personal touch into their work so it'd be something new. BTS had that too, they stood out because they brought something new to the idol scene. I truly believe Jimin (and everyone who works with him) acknowledges Jimin's tone as an advantage, and something that works on his favor. So that's why maybe he doesn't use that much his lower register, besides of course the fact that the music he's doing fits a lighter tone better than a more full, lower one.

On the other hand, I don't mean basic as an insult. Ya'll know how much I love Taylor but I can still acknowledge she's not the greatest vocalist and that doesn't mean I like her music any less. I like her music because of so many other factors, and even if she's not Whitney Houston, she still sounds good and if I want to hear someone belting or doing riffs and runs, I'll just listen to someone else. Even if Taylor's voice is pretty basic and just nice, she's still so loved and successful. Likewise, even if I think Jungkook's tone is pretty standard and could be found elsewhere, he also has other stuff that make him distinctive. If he incorporates choreo, dancing, into his solos (which he most likely will) that's a point to his favor.

I see this especially in kths but it seems that so many people want to be a fan of someone because they're the greatest this or that. It's really become a matter of ego for fans, to be regarded as a fan of the most- the greatest- the best-. You can like simple, regular, average stuff/people and it doesn't take away any value from it.

I can't stand hypocrisy/double standards and lies. I can't. So when I rant about the hate Jimin gets, that's mostly what I rant about. I don't care a lot about people saying Jimin sounds bad because it doesn't change anything for me. I care that he won't see it, or be discouraged or embarrassed by it, but I don't take it so personally. I love how he sounds and I think he sings really well. I'm not in this because I want to go online and read "Jimin is the greatest singer that has ever lived". He sounds different, we know. Some take different as a drag. Others take basic/generic as a drag. The point is that neither are bad; they're just two different characteristics that coexist in the universe. Jungkook's voice being generic might get him opportunities that Jimin's voice wouldn't get him, and viceversa.

As for the masculinity/femininity part, I just have never seen Jungkook as anything other than masculine, his gender expression and even the way he seems to develop his personal relationships has always been so man to me. And if you compare it to Jimin (which was the reason it was brought up, the marketability), I think that it becomes a bit more obvious who's more "masculine" or "het".

[nutty1005]

Multitudes of Art from Wenhui Daily

Original article: Print Media by Wenhui Daily (1) http://whb.cn/zhuzhan/xinwen/20210815/415430.html and (2) http://whb.cn/zhuzhan/xinwen/20210815/415432.html

Xiao Zhan Performs in “A Dream Like A Dream”, What Traffic has Injected into Theater

Original author: 帕帕拉佐

Preface

Whether the traffic celebrity is capable is a problem, it is also another problem when there is no traffic celebrity in the theater scene. This time, because of Xiao Zhan, another group of people who are unrelated to theater started going into it. Perhaps after the indescribable wonderful 8 hour experience, some of them would truly fall in love with theater, some may continue to fork out money for her idol’s next scheduled event. But is it really that important to separate the “I’m in the same room with him for 8 hours” crowd from the theater audiences?

1

Theater, which used to be a niche form of art, had been breaking through its circle these two years, and causing a lot of discussions. The most recent would be “Top Traffic Celebrity” Xiao Zhan’s participation in “A Dream Like A Dream”.

In between the midst of filming a period fantasy drama “The Longest Promise”, Xiao Zhan performed as Patient No. 5, a role which Hu Ge had once performed. After the performances in the 3 stops Wuhan, Qingdao and Chengdu, at every play’s curtain call, the theater would be filled with endless applause, there was even once even covered with rousing ovation. In the cheers of nearly a thousand people, the voices of young ladies were particularly distinct.

Actually, this is not the first time Xiao Zhan’s participation in “A Dream Like A Dream” created a revelry in his fans. Early this year in March, once the official announcement that Xiao Zhan would participate in the Tour of 9 Cities, it went onto hot search immediately, and until now, Xiao Zhan’s participation in “A Dream Like A Dream” has accumulated a staggering 4.2 billion views.

Over thousand tickets were sold out in seconds, an 80 RMB ticket was scalped to over a 1,000 RMB, the tickets of the “lotus pond seats” were scalped to more than 20,000 RMB. Although Chris Li and Hu Ge both performed in this play in 2013, but since it birth 9 years ago, this magnitude of furor only happened this year.

In the midst of anticipation and suspicion, Xiao Zhan finally walked on stage. The trials of theater revealed the sincerity in him and this sincerity is Xiao Zhan’s base color, or it could even be said to be the reason he is surrounded by so much love.

This innate sincerity is a scarcity in a stage created by glorious vocals and technical construction. Many experienced actors with strong foundations would be working hard for this, but they never had it.

No one could deny that Xiao Zhan created a unique Patient No. 5, who threaded the whole play as a core character. For the actor to be a good Patient No. 5, he would need precise acting, thorough understanding of the role, firm control of emotions, and of course the blending of both the actor’s self and the character.

That year, the tranquility that Hu Ge had after coming back from his tribulations became his key to unlocking Patient No. 5; whereas for Xiao Zhan, who had went through the growth from an “idol” to a “top traffic celebrity”, who had a “unique” experience in cyberspace, the things that happened to him these few years, became his natural advantage in portraying Patient No. 5.

Last year, Yanghua held “Cao Yu’s Special 110 Year Old Commemoration Event”. Then, Xiao Zhan was still in the eye of the storm, and he had a conversation with Cao Yu’s daughter, Wan Fang, and in this conversation, Xiao Zhan did a tremendous amount of homework, and wrote down a few dozen questions regarding Wan Fang’s script “Winter Journey” and “You and I”, his questions were simple but impressionable, it gave people the feeling that he seemed to have reached the edge of theater.

In this conversation, he dazzled Wang Keran, the producer of “A Dream Like A Dream”. He seemed to have found the common point between Xiao Zhan and Patient No. 5: the impermanence nature of fate.

And once again, it proves that instincts were very useful. The intersection between the actor and the role’s life would become the crux to whether the actor is able to infuse a soul to his character. The reason he was able to establish his character was not entirely from his ability to craft roles, but more of the source came from what happened to him. In addition, Xiao Zhan’s intelligence and hard work left a deep impression on Wang Keran during the initial stages of rehearsal – while many actors had not memorized his lines, Xiao Zhan had already memorized all of his lines, and this is especially difficult given that “A Dream Like A Dream” was an 8 hour long performance and there are about 3 to 4 times more lines than a standard play.

Whether the traffic celebrity is capable is a problem, it is also another problem when there is no traffic celebrity in the theater scene. As the theater market becomes more mature operationally, more traffic celebrities would cross over to this foreign scene. At the same time, there would be controversy as well. Can the boundaries between theater and general public be broken through by “traffic celebrities”? When will theater become a “reality TV theater”? Would the audiences be looking at celebrities instead of the play? These kinds of debates had always existed. At this, Lai Shengchuan did not care too much about it. He spoke of an incident in the past, when “A Dream Like A Dream” invited Chris Li to perform, her fans did not simply watch a show, but they watched 10. During the intermission, Lai Shengchuan spoke with her fans, and he realized that hey had been watching for 5 days straight, saying “the play was awesome”.

To him, despite the difference between how traffic celebrities shine on stage and how theater is like, or perhaps foreign to then, he just has to look at how they work to know that it took a lot of talent and hard work to come this far! “Hence, don’t be too particular about whether traffic celebrities are suitable for theater.”

No matter how loud the controversy is, it is fact that theater trains people – a performance of a few hours, there is no pause, no post production, there is only one take with no chance of a retake. Hence, there has always been a hierarchy in the artistic circle, theater actors would be above movie actors, movie actors would be above TV drama actors. No matter what the actual reasons for celebrities to join theater are, Lai Shengchuan’s story proved a point, when a top traffic celebrity joins theater, an art form with high entry requirements, it would inject more vibrancy and attention to this art.

This time, because of Xiao Zhan, another group of people who are unrelated to theater started going into it. Perhaps after the indescribable wonderful 8 hour experience, some of them would truly fall in love with theater, some may continue to fork out money for her idol’s next scheduled event. But is it really that important to separate the “I’m in the same room with him for 8 hours” crowd from the theater audiences?

Let us not think too much about it, and watch the show first!

Xiao Zhan, This “Newcomer” to Theater

Original author: 贾行家

Preface

I do not see the problem with Xiao Zhan’s decision to perform, just like I do not see how anyone would be damaged by this incident. If it had a specific “influence” (I do not see how that is, it is just the decision by a theater group), then to me, the influence is – it allowed more audiences to walk into theaters, and let more platforms notice theater.

2

9 years ago, Yanghua Theater placed a huge bet on “A Dream Like A Dream”, it came from Wang Keran’s observations based on the changing times – China’s industrialization and urbanization created its first “middle-class” life, and for the first time the first generation who had completed education but yet who are also stuck in the “modern conundrum” – who am I, where did I come from, where do I go from here? The old answers were no longer effective. This generation’s problem was – how to face the coming of death, and how to face the loneliness that came with the inevitable death? In the hands of Yanghua, this question became – how do you use a touching story, outside of religion or philosophy, to give its audience the love of life and a sense of comfort?

As such, there exists such a different theater group, with a producer with very “un-modern” methods: front stage and backstage, regardless of matters, as long as it could not be clearly defined to a job, it belongs to Wang Keran only. He called himself an “artist + businessman”, the nature of a businessman was to be in-charge of investments, ensure profitability, so he had to consider from the business angle – whether this play could fulfill the extreme and common spiritual requirements of the current generation, while at the same time be able to continue running for a long time; he also had to consider from the artistic angle, taking risks while ensuring profitability, and create the play from his heart. The purity of drama is as such, those who are passionate about it would stake their lives for it.

The author of “A Dream Like A Dream”, playwright Lai Shengchuan had a performance principle technique called “guide the cause, not the effect”, which meant that when the director explains the scene, he does not explain the effect he wants, but instead he would explain the reasons behind this scene clearly, that is, the character’s experience and emotional state, so as to allow the actor to create a natural performance after understanding. This was very different from the rush that is in TV dramas, which would often film out of sequence, the actors might not be clear about what he is acting as, and they could only use exaggerated actions to cover their loss of direction. Worst still, there are also actors who could only count 1, 2, 3, 4 to the camera in place of lines.

However, there are also good directors who do not like to film according to logic, and film as they wanted, while the actors did not know what they were portraying, but yet they could still create a masterpiece, Xu Haofeng’s movie review on Li An’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” spoke about this – Li An felt that Chow Yun-fat’s eyes were too sharp and alert, so he kept shouting “CUT” repeatedly, until Chow Yun-fat lost confidence and his gaze became scattered, so as to get the scene he wanted. Why did he not explain the “cause” at this point? Perhaps it was hard to explain, it was like a fisherman, he had to fish for the right gaze, to wait for the right sequence.

What we said above was to explain two simple things.

The first thing: Art can be, or even must be, done in an autocratic manner, it has to set its goal based on its audience, but how the play will be like, only one person will know, and in that creative space, there is only his method.

The other thing: The status created by an actor for the role is actually very brittle, they usually only know the outcome but they rarely know the cause. The difficult part in rehearsing “A Dream Like A Dream” came from these 31 actors who had to take on more than 100 characters, besides autocracy, there was a need to protect them from interruption and confusion. Xiao Zhan, who joined in this new version, he only had Patient No. 5 on the door of his dressing room, the other roles and burden were removed.

When we were discussing Xiao Zhan, we actually saw many versions of Xiao Zhan. Going back to basics, he is a young actor and singer. I found similarities between him and Patient No. 5: They both had the same unsettling impermanence in their fate, there were things that were not caused by them, they were merely caught in between – when you take a step back, impermanence is neither good nor bad. The problem is, which Xiao Zhan is the one standing on the stage of “A Dream Like A Dream”? If we took him as actor Xiao Zhan, then there is nothing wrong with it.

As an audience, my judging criteria is very simple: How did this new theater actor Xiao Zhan do? Based on his age and experience, Patient No. 5 is an extremely complex and hard to control character, and after 3 stops of Yanghua’s tour, the audience would probably have felt: Xiao Zhan created a brand new, intricate Patient No. 5, this character was well established onstage, this meant that his understanding and analysis was also well established.

I also prepared an observer angle, that was to see if he could blend into the strict system of theater, would be he outshone by actors who had a lot more energy, foundation and experience. The result exceeded my expectations, he not only did it, he displayed clear precision in his pace and control, and realized a complete theater experience.

I do not see the problem with Xiao Zhan’s decision to perform, just like I do not see how anyone would be damaged by this incident. If it had a specific “influence” (I do not see how that is, it is just the decision by a theater group), then to me, the influence is – it allowed more audiences to walk into theaters, and let more platforms notice theater. Chinese theater really needed more exploration in terms of content and operation. As for what influence this would have on the theater scene, audiences are very simple, as long as it was a good show onstage, they would buy tickets to watch it. As an outsider, I would also want to exclaim another statement: there were those who always said they wanted to revive the theater, but when someone really worked hard at doing it, these people would always come with their senseless controversies.

From my point of view, after I met Xiao Zhan’s “A Dream Like A Dream”, I felt that my soul had been cleansed by the waters in the lotus pond, been carefully cleaned by the fluttering spotlights and shadows akin to a bright moon, I seemed to have understood many things, there were less confusion, more courage, and a lot of gratitude to lives of those from front stage and backstage of the theater.

According to Sigmund Freud’s theory, play is a child’s unique way of gaining experience in handling matters, the function of play is to vent, venting is the purification of emotions, this is slightly different from those who take themselves as the audiences’ guide to purification. Theater has created a space to help the audience to vent what is in their hearts. After becoming an adult, it seemed like besides dreaming, there are not many methods to self-purify; besides dreaming, we could also watch “A Dream Like A Dream”.

[honeyjaez]

A solo stan who is thinking about checking other groups out?

There is nothing wrong with being a solo stan (as in only liking 1 group) as long as you are kind and courteous to other groups.

Also this post might not be for you.

But if you are a solo stan (usually starting with BTS) or just in need of finding new groups and thinking about spreading your wings here are some suggestions. 🙂

When I first got into kpop way back in the 2010 years I had no clue what I had stumbled on and I only liked 2 groups max for the longest time because I didnt know about any other groups. Since then I’ve come to love so many groups that I wish I knew about sooner.

Now mind you. I am primarily a boy group stan so there are not a lot of girl groups on her so please forgive me. -*edit I’ve decided to do a part 2 of just girl groups so stay tuned

This is also under the impression you already know BTS and their brother group TXT.

also if your fav is not on this list I dearly apologize. I picked groups that might be a good intro to like multiple groups.

Groups down below ˅˅˅˅

SEVENTEEN:

-13 Member group under Pledis Entertainment.

- Debuted May 26, 2015

-Popular in Korea and slowly gaining popularity internationally.

-AMAZING dancers.

-Like the synchronization is unreal for 13 people.

- Divided into 3 sub-units; Performance Unit, Hip-Hop Unit, and Vocal Unit

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Don’t Wanna Cry. Hit, Clap

iKON:

-Currently a 6 Member group under YG Entertainment

-Debuted September 15th, 2015

-Addicting Chorus’s and bad ass rapping

-Their Leader B.I recently left the group early this year, but fans are hopeful for a reunion. But that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate OT7 right now.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Bling Bling, Love Scenario, B-Day

ONEUS:

-6 Member group under RBW Entertainment

-Debuted January 9th, 2019.

-They are a crazy good for a rookie group and have a lot of bangers.

-Their choreography is no joke

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Valkyrie (Debut song), Twilight, Lit

(Seriously they have no bad songs)

NCT 127:

(NCT is actually a massive group divided up into sub-units)

-10 Member group under SM Entertainment.

-Debuted July 10th, 2016

-Crazy Powerful dance moves.

-Look mean, but are actually sweethearts.

-Gaining popularity in the west.

-Some songs to introduce you to them:Cherry Bomb, Touch, Highway to Heaven

NCT Dream:

-Currently a 6 member group under SM Entertainment

-Debuted August 24th, 2016

-Cute Charm and Powerful stage presence. 

-NCT Dream is as this moment not a fixed unit and based on idols age.

-When they get old enough the members “graduate” and join other NCT sub-units

-Mark of NCT 127 was once the leader but he reached the age limit and “Graduated” and thus no longer apart of the group.

-Many fans detest this concept and wish SM to make them a fixed unit but that doens’t mean you can’t love OT6 or OT7 at the moment.

-Some songs to introduce you to them:  Boom, We Go Up, Go

Stray Kids:

-8  member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted March 25th, 2018

-Gained a lot of popularity through their survival show of the same name

-Strong and Meaningful songs that deal a lot with self struggle and depression. 

-All songs are produced by members Bang Chan, Changbin and Han who make up the sub-unit 3racha.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Hellavator Levanter, Voices, My Pace, Double Knot, God’s Menu, Back Door (I mean this list can go on and on)

GOT7:

-7 Member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted January 16th, 2014

-Another amazing dancing group

-Strong Charisma on stage.

-Variety Kings

-Goofballs

-Some songs to introduce you to them:Hard Carry, Eclipse, You Are 

VAV:

-7 Member group under A Team Entertainment

-Debuted October 31st, 2015.

-Severely underrated 

-Has lost some members and gains some as well.

-They work super hard year round with hardly and rest.

-Please stan VAV.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: She’s Mine, Poison, Spotlight. 

ASTRO:

-6 Member group under Fantagio Entertainment

-Debuted February 23rd, 2016.

-Cute, Charming group.

-The boys are actual angels.

-The group is a breath of fresh air.

-Super Talented.

-Addicting songs that just make you smile

-Can have the same concept as literally any other group but still make it their own.

-Vocals are beyond this world.

-Also just overall very pretty.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: All Night, Blue Flame, Baby, Always You. 

The Boyz:

-11 Member group under Cre.Ker Entertainment

-Debuted December 6th, 2017

-A really fun and charming group.

-Their song’s are very addicting

-Dance like songs

-Sweet sweet boys who deserve love.

-Member Hwall left in October of 2019 due to health reasons 

-Some songs to introduce you to them: D.D.D, No Air, Giddy Up 

Day6:

-5 Member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted September 7th, 2015

-An actual band so they don’t dance on stage

-but crazy talented

-Their songs are known to make people feel happier.

-I don’t think it is possible to have a bad Day6 song.

-Jae’s twitter is quite possible my favorite place on this earth.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: I smile. Time of our lives. Colors, I need Somebody. Dance Dance. Literally any of them.

PENTAGON:

-Currently a 9 Member group under Cube Entertainment.

-Debuted October 10th, 2016.

-Also Underrated.

-Such amazing discography.

-UNIQUE VOICES 

-Strong vocals and major crackheads

-Went through their survival show “Pentagon Maker” and debuted as 10 members.

-Former Member E’Dawn was basically kicked out of Cube and Pentagon after revealing he was dating label mate HyunA. Fans are still hopeful for an OT10 reunion.

-But we can support OT9 now.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Sha La La, Shine, Like This, Cosmo (Japanese song).

SF9:

-9 Member group under FNC Entertainment

-Debuted October 5th, 2016

-FNC’s first dance boy group.

-SEVERELY UNDERRATED.

-If you want any songs to put on your workout playlist, or just get you hyped then their are your boys.

-AMAZING Dancers.

-They are almost all actors as well. If you watch K-Drama’s you might recognize Chani (their maknae) from widely popular Sky Castle and Rowoon from new K-Drama “Extraordinary You”

-Stan SF9. Stream RPM

-Some songs to introduce you to them: O Sole Mio, RPM, Now or Never, Easy Love

Monsta X

-A SEVEN Member group under Starship Entertainment

-Literally the definition of hard-working.

-Powerful Choreography, crazy stage presence, intense charisma...must I go on.

-Literally deserve the world.

-Were formed through the survival program No Mercy and have not stopped since.

-Their songs are so addicting and on top of that are actual sweethearts.

-Only want to make people smile and feel loved through their music.

-Would possibly die for their fans.

-Okay I’m talking too much.

-Gaining popularity in the Western regions.

-In October of 2019, member Wonho (the orange hair in the gif) left the group due to rumors and lies being spread about him. He didn’t want to hurt Monsta X’s reputation so he left the group but fans have strongly opposed this, fighting for starship to help clear his name and have him return. The protest continues on even after almost a month.

(Trust me, if you knew this group and Wonho, you would understand why fans are opposing this.)

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Follow, Shoot Out, Beautiful, Dramarama, All In, Alligator.

NU’EST:

-5 Member group under Pledis Entertainment

-Debuted March 15th, 2012

-Very unique style and concept with their albums.  Sticks to their own specific style.

-Addicting chorus.

-Honey Sweet vocals. 

-Had a sub-united called NU’EST W while Minhyun was promoting as a member of Wanna One. (The W stood for ‘Waiting’ which should tell you the type of guys they are).

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Bet Bet, Love Me, Face (Debut  Song), Help Me (Nu’est W song).

BTOB:

-7 Member group under Cube Entertainment

-Debuted March 21st, 2012.

-Ballads anyone?

-Are primarily a vocal focus group

-But understandably because BTOB has one of the strongest vocals in Kpop.

-But can also dance.

-Honest to good crack heads

-Variety Kings #2

-Currently 3 members are serving their military service but you can still support them in their quiet time.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: I’ll be your man, Only one for me, Beautiful Pain, Missing You.

ATEEZ:

-8 Member group under KQ Entertainment

-Debuted October 24th, 2018.

-ROOKIE KINGS.

-In their one year so far since debut they have shown the world that they are not a group to underestimate. 

-Strong Dancers, powerful choreography. 

-Their stage presence is no joke.

-Songs are super addicting and go hard so if you need a workout playlist Ateez is your group.

THE DUALITY OF EACH MEMBER. 

-San is Satan in disguise.

-Prepared for debut for a really REALLY long time. 

-Already signed up with a US record label.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Wonderland, Pirate King, Treasure, Say My name, Wave. literally any of them.

EXO:

-9 Member group under SM Entertainment

-Debuted April 8th, 2012.

-If you know BTS, you probably know about them.

-But EXO are worth all the hype.

-Korea’s chosen representative (Whether you agree with it or not, it’s true) 

-Deadly Stage Presence and Charisma

-Their songs are always iconic.

-Leader Suho just might be god I haven’t figured it out yet.

-As of November 2019, 3 of their members are not promoting with the group. Lay is off promoting solo stuff and stuff in china and america (because SM doesn’t want EXOLS happy) and the other 2 members, Xiumin and D.O are currently serving in the military.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Monster, Love Shot, Lotto, Tempo.

Golden Child

-10 Member group under Woollim Entertainment.

-Debuted August 28th, 2017.

-Underrated group x 10.

-Dancing is on point.

-Stage presence on point

-Hardworking

-cute songs

-They are just charming boys who smile more than the sun i swear.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Wannabe, DamDaDi, Genie, Let Me

A.C.E:

-5 Member group under Beat Interactive

-Debuted May 23rd, 2017

-I literally don’t understand why they are so underrated.

-They have created their own unique style in kpop with a rock vibe that is hardly used in the community. 

-POWERFUL dancers.

-Rude as fuck but thats besides the point.

-Another great group if you need workout songs.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Undercover, Savage, Callin, Take Me Higher.

Other groups that I did not talk about but I think should be mentioned:

-AB6IX

-CIX

-VICTON

-VIXX

-Great Guys 

-Infinite

-JBJ95

-Kim Donghan(solo)

N.Flying!

-Noir!!!!!

-Spectrum

[cherryeol04]

Boyfriend?

Genre: Fluff Pairing: BaekhyunxJackson Word Count: 2.7K Summary: Baekhyun finds himself smitten with GOT7′s lead rapper, Jackson Wang.

Baekhyun was super excited. After a great few months of promotions, today was the start of their goodbye stages. They only had to do four and then a few months of rest. Though most of the others already had slightly filled schedules for their break, Baekhyun’s was clear for the next week. Which meant he could sleep in for a while, play a little longer on his favorite game League of Legends, and pig out until he had to start exercising again.

It was a vacation he had long envisioned and finally, it was within his grasp.

“What’s the lineup like?” Chanyeol asked as he strolled through the dressing room door.

“Debut stages first.” Suho hummed. “We’re near the end. It's goodbye stages then hot stages and then the end.” He said.

“New debut stages? Anyone good?” Baekhyun asked curiously. For him, it was sometimes hard for him to keep up with all the new rookies, especially if they didn't debut together or have a lot of hype about their debut.

“There is a new JYP group.” Xiumin commented offhandedly.

“A girl group?” Baekhyun asks curiously.

“No, a boy group.”

“Oh.” The snickers that followed the almost disheartened ‘oh’ had Baekhyun huffing. So what if he had been hoping it was a girl group? He was a young man with equally young hormones that just ran rampant in his body. It was only natural that he wanted a girl group right? Of course, it was. But he was still curious about this new boy group from JYP. The company did produce some wonderful talent. “Maybe I’ll go see what this new boy group is about.” he said, making his way to the open dressing room.

“Just don’t be forever.” Suho called after the other. “We can’t be late.” Baekhyun waved his hand back at the leader as he exited the room. He wasn’t sure what the group name was called, but he was sure he could figure it out. He knew most of the groups already there, so names that didn’t sound familiar to him were the ones he was going to. Walking down the slightly busy halls, he bowed to passing idols and staff members while reading names off the signs. He paused as he got to a group he didn’t know and cocked his head.

Got7? Got 7 what? Monkeys? Bananas? Was this the new group? Moving to the right, he peeked his head into the room and watched, counting seven heads of obvious idols in various parts of the room. Some were getting makeup done, others getting their hair fixed or clothes straightened out and a few were just sitting around. One, in particular, was rather appealing, much to Baekhyun’s surprise. He was very good looking and looked nicely built. He wondered if the other had any muscles and he was pretty sure he did. He was probably a rapper. Rappers always looked so good. Like Chanyeol for instance.

Shaking his head, he knocked on the door and bowed as he slipped in. Eyes turned to him and the members that could, bowed back in respect as they greeted each other. “Hello everyone, I'm EXO’s Baekhyun!” He greeted, a wide smile on his face as he got the group greeting first before individual greetings as well. It was pretty sad though because all the names went in one ear and out the other. Except for one.

“I'm the charismatic, main dancer, main vocal, main rapper, main-”

“Please!” BamBam called from the corner, a few of the others laughing.

“Jackson!” He finished and flashed Baekhyun a wide smile. Baekhyun felt his heart stop for a moment at the smile and he just couldn't understand why. Well, he could. He knew why. Jackson was a very good looking man and had a funny personality to complement it. It was rare, or at least to Baekhyun, to meet someone who was silly like him. He could already see this group going far in life and they haven't even officially debuted on stage.

“It's a pleasure to meet you all. I just came around to introduce myself and wish you all good luck on your first stage!”

“Ah! Thank you Sunbae! We’ll work hard to impress you!” Jackson said and bowed to Baekhyun and his body returned the bow automatically. He couldn't wait then, to watch Jackson work hard to impress him.

“Can't wait. I should get going now.” He breathed out and smiled at him before waving. “Bye! I'll be watching!” He called as he back out of the room slowly. Turning, he moved to the left and down the hall. He made it around one of the corners and pressed back against the wall, resting as it felt like his legs were going to give out and his heart was going to explode out of his chest. He's never had such a reaction to an idol before, not even hottest of hot female idols.  Not even Taeyeon. He couldn't understand this. In the short few minutes he met Jackson, his body just went crazy. What was this man doing to him?

Spending a few minutes against the wall, Baekhyun eventually pulled himself away from it when he was sure he could stand on his own and not collapse. He was kind of glad he had gone alone, now afraid of what the others would have said or how they would have teased him if they saw his reaction. Of course, they probably would have thought he was just joking around and honestly he thought this was all a cruel joke that he was playing on himself.  Even though he thought men were good looking and openly looked from time to time and even expressed his admiration,  none of them made him feel like this...made him feel like what he assumed was a “high school girl in love”.

He made his way back to the dressing room and was greeted by Chanyeol and Chen, who asked about the new group, and if there was anyone they would have to compete within rapping or singing skills. Baekhyun assured Chen there probably was and the look on the other’s face was just so priceless, he couldn’t stop the laughter that left his lips. But when it came to Chanyeol, he was sure there was no one who compares to the giant. Chanyeol had a deep voice, and it was raspy. He had his own unique style with rapping too that set him apart from the mainstream rappers, much like how Ravi’s rapping was different. So he was sure there was nothing to worry about. The question was, would Baekhyun still love his rapping like he did now, once he heard the rapping styles of Jackson? That really was the question.

And once again, Baekhyun felt his heart racing and his legs going weak at just the thought of the bubbly male. This was really bad. This was horrible! Why was he still having such a reaction? What did this mean? He could actually take a wild guess and imagine what this really meant, but he didn’t want it to mean what he thought it did. He didn’t want to just admit to himself he was crushing on another man. Not that he thought it was wrong.

….

Okay, he did think it was wrong. But not horrible so. It was just not something he thought he would do himself. He liked women, he knew that for sure. But there was just something about Jackson…

“Earth to Baekhyun. Come in, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol called, his large hand waving in front of Baekhyun’s face. Blinking a few times, Baekhyun shook his head to clear his thoughts as he turned brown eyes up to his best friend.

“What?” he asked.

“You okay? You spaced out there for a moment.” Chanyeol said and Baekhyun cleared his throat.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. Anyway, I think I’m going to go watch these new rookies perform.” Baekhyun said and Chanyeol’s head bobbed. “Wanna come?” he asked.

“Yeah! I wanna check them out.” Chanyeol said and headed for the door.

“Don’t be late though!” Suho’s voice called out and Baekhyun sighed, rolling his eyes. It’s not like they would be late. If anything they would be extremely early, sitting backstage waiting for their slotted time performance. Baekhyun followed Chanyeol out and together they headed for the backstage area, bowing to every one that passed by. Reaching the back, they slipped to the curtains and grinned.

“Is that them?” Chanyeol asked, pointing to the group that was getting in their spots. Baekhyun peered out and nodded his head.

“Yeah, that’s them.” Baekhyun said and smiled. His eyes moved from each member before landing on Jackson. The other had changed out of the clothes he had seen him in earlier. He was wearing his stage clothes, which to Baekhyun, was indecent. Baekhyun wasn’t a person who liked a lot of muscles. He was okay with six-packs and working out the arms and such, but overly muscle guys he just couldn’t stand to look at. Jackson’s arms were just the right amount muscle that they had Baekhyun shivering at the sight. He could tell the other worked out and it actually gave Baekhyun the urge to want to work out as well.

The lights rose as the music started and Baekhyun’s eyes moved between all the members as they danced and sang. Chanyeol’s body was moving next to him, bouncing to the beat and he had to admit, it was a great beat and the lyrics were actually damn catchy. Baekhyun was already a fan, but when the acrobatics started and the rapping, Baekhyun felt himself swooning, especially when he watched Jackson move. This was honestly getting out of hand. Baekhyun was not ready to admit it, but there was no denying that he had to be at least 50% gay because the want he was feeling for Jackson at the moment was so strong.

“Did you see that?” Chanyeol asked over the music, a wide smile on his face. Baekhyun nodded his head, unable to really voice his agreement because he was sure he would say something extremely stupid if he did. The performance was amazing and Baekhyun was just honestly at a loss for words. When the music ended and the lights dimmed, he felt his arm being grabbed and he was tugged back from the curtains and off to the side so the group could come back.

“Sunbae!” Youngjae was the first to spot Baekhyun and bowed to him, the others following. After a quick introduction of who Chanyeol was, Baekhyun was struck speechless as the males all chatted happily about their first stage.

“Did you watch Baekhyun sunbae? I performed extra hard for you.” Jackson said with a grin and if Baekhyun wasn't actually doubting his sanity, he would have sworn that Jackson even winked at him.

“A-Ah I did!” He said, stumbling over his words with a chuckle. “You guys did great! I was so impressed with all the acrobatics!”

“You like them? Mark and I specialize in martial arts and we love incorporating those moves in our choreography.” Jackson said.

“Speak for yourself.” Mark muttered from the corner, though he was smiling.

“Ah, well we should get back, Suho hyung is gonna have a fit if we don't.” Baekhyun said with a bow, Chanyeol following.

“Let's walk back together.” BamBam suggested, already moving to Chanyeol’s side to discuss different rap techniques, or at least that's what Baekhyun assumed.  Letting his feet carry him, Baekhyun started following the group when he felt a hand grab his, stopping him in his tracks. He turned and looked down at the hand holding his before looking back up at the culprit.

“Baekhyun, do you think we could go somewhere to talk for a moment.” The intense stare of Jackson left Baekhyun in such a daze he didn't really register the fact the other had dropped the honorifics. Jackson wanted to talk to him? Alone? Baekhyun could feel his heart starting to pound again and it took him a moment to swallow the lump that suddenly developed in his throat.

“Sure. Ah, I'm sure there are some empty dressing rooms on the next floor up.” He suggested. Jackson nodded and motioned for Baekhyun to lead the way. It took the vocalist a moment to calm himself enough to turn and take the lead to the stairs. With each step up, Baekhyun felt his knees grow weaker and weaker until the point he was sure he wouldn't be able to hold himself up anymore. And just like he thought, his knees gave out under him three steps from the top.

Strong arms wrapped around his waist, catching him before he could fall onto the hard surface and possibly slide down a few of the stairs, injuring himself in the process. Baekhyun stared up at Jackson with wide eyes as the other leaned over him, his weight fully supported by those hard muscles. “Jackson.” Baekhyun whispered softly.

“I already have you falling for me?” Jackson teased, but behind the teasing tone, there was meaning. The words weren't just to tease him but seemed to actually be a true question and Baekhyun found himself nodding his head quickly. “Well, I guess here is as good as place as any.” Jackson hummed lightly. He carefully helped Baekhyun up the last few steps and got him on steady ground, which Baekhyun was grateful for because he wasn't sure he would have been able to do it himself.

“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” He asked after fiddling with his clothes, making sure they were straight. There was silence between them for a moment before Jackson cleared his throat and moved closer.

“I know you feel it.” Jackson said, which caused Baekhyun’s head to snap up. “I can see it in your eyes.” he said gently, hand reaching out to take Baekhyun’s. “And I just wanted to let you know that...I feel it too.”

Baekhyun swallowed thickly and licked his suddenly very dry lips. “Feel it too?” he asked and nodded his head slowly. “I...um...fuck.” he breathed out and let out a nervous laugh. “What can I possibly say? I just met you. I shouldn’t have these weird feelings.” he said.

“Weird?” Jackson asked and cocked his head and Baekhyun nodded quickly.

“I’m not gay.” Jackson’s face fell and Baekhyun felt horrible. Oh so horrible. “But I feel something for you. Like...I guess it means I’m gay. I feel it here.” he said, his hand moving to touch the spot over his heart. “And here.” he said, hand sliding down to his stomach. The butterflies that were just flapping around were ever so present and it made him feel sick and also nervous.

Jackson smiled and stepped closer to him, pulling Baekhyun against him. There was no distance between them, at all. Jackson stared down into his hyung’s eyes, his smile so bright. “Don’t worry. I feel it too. Hyung, I want something with you. It’s crazy because we did just meet. But I can’t deny what I feel and what my heart is telling me I want.”

“I can’t either. I’ve never been one to deny myself.” Baekhyun whispered with a blush. He stared into Jackson’s eyes for a long moment before nodding. “Let’s create something between us.” With a nod, Jackson bent down, stealing a quick kiss from Baekhyun as the sound of footsteps echoed through the empty hall. They pulled away and parted just in time as Chen came running up the stairs, eyeing the two.

“Uh, it’s time for line up.” Chen said and looked Jackson over with a smirk. “Can you tear yourself away from your boyfriend long enough to go perform?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Baekhyun gasped out and smacked Chen, who snorted with laughter and waved him off.

“Right sure.” Chen rolled his eyes and bowed to Jackson before heading back down the stairs.

“Yet.” Jackson added and Baekhyun looked at him confused. “Not your boyfriend yet.” Baekhyun grinned and nodded his head.

“Not yet. One day. Anyway, see you around Jackson.” Baekhyun said and waved. Jackson nodded, eyes watching as Baekhyun headed down the stairs, a snicker leaving him as Baekhyun tripped slightly over his own feet and getting flustered.

“Oh my god! What did you do to me?!” Baekhyun called out. Jackson was possibly going to kill him and Baekhyun was strangely alright with that.

[kpoptimeout]

Top 10 Most Underrated K-pop Songs of 2019 (Artist Edition)

2019 has come and gone before we knew it.  

Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2018 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below are our top 10 picks of songs that did not rank high (and with MVs just around or below 1 million views too) but deserves your attention! 

This is the list for artists’ tracks, so the Top 10 underrated non-idol tracks. Click here for the Top 10 underrated idol tracks of 2019. Unlike usual years where there is a separate post made for Top 10 underrated K-Drama OSTs, this year there is instead posts for the Top 20 most underrated K-Pop songs of the decade.

Some of the non-idol artists have escaped the list in recent years to stardom (for example DPR LIVE, CRUSH and MAD CLOWN) so hopefully, it happens again!

This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome. Also, all MVs are linked in the song titles because Tumblr won’t let me share that many videos in one post.

ADOY “Lemon”

It is strange that this song somehow did not make ADOY more well-known in South Korea and among K-Pop fans. They have such a laid-back and fresh sound perfect for CFs and fan edits but somehow this indie electronic rock band still only has 9609 likes on Facebook and their song “LEMON”, has less than 200K views at the point of writing this. “LEMON” is a refreshing and soothing indie rock track with an 80s synth melody loop. It is basically if ice lemon tea was a song and it was a great song. If you like chill 80s-inspired music, you would love ADOY’s “Lemon”!

Colde “Control Me”

One half of RnB duo offonoff and a member of DEAN, Crush and Punchnello and more’s artist collective Club Eskimo, Colde provides an amazing solo song in the form of “Control Me”. The song is a smooth RnB track that hits all the right spots - the somewhat conversational like singing building up to the chorus, and the chorus itself which is extremely catchy. Colde’s rapping is also just as fire as his singing. The MV only just surpassed 1 million views but it really deserves so much more since it complements the song so well, with everything filmed like it was done in one shot as different versions of Colde appear to serenade you on the screen. If you are already a fan of DEAN and Crush, you should also check out this amazing song by their friend Colde!

Crispy Chae “A letter from Wendy” ft. Gato Ray

With how popular lofi study playlists are, it is surprising how little love Crispy Chae’s “A letter from Wendy” received because it would fit perfectly in such a playlist. Maybe it is because this song does not even have a proper MV besides the video made by Mellowbeat Seeker. However, this does not stop this song from being an extremely underrated quality indie track. Crispy Chae has a beautiful voice that is both husky and child-like at the same time, making the transitions between skilled harmonies and the conversational chorus all the more memorable. Additionally, this song was sung predominantly in English and should really be making more rounds in the increasingly global K-Pop fanbase. If you love Suran’s music, you would really enjoy this song by Crispy Chae!

dosii “lovememore.”

City pop is definitely making its comeback in 2019, with Takeuchi Mariya’s “Plastic Love” finally getting its much deserved MV, western city pop acts like PREP gaining more popularity and veteran K-pop stars like Sunmi and Yubin trying out this sound. dosii, an R&B duo comprised of Choi Jonghyuk and Jeon Jihye, also dives into city pop in “lovememore.”, which is definitely one of the best and most underrated indie K-pop tracks of the year. The song sounded both like an authentic 80s city pop jam but also includes distortion effects and producing techniques used more often in current music. Honestly, it is an absolute masterpiece and the less than 800K views the MV has received since February is ridiculous.  If you loved Sunmi’s “Black Pearl”, you would fall in love with “lovememore.”!

ELO, PENOMECO “LOVE?” ft. GRAY

While this song did only come out in early November, I am still confused why such a great hip-hop collaboration has less than 500K views. Like all GRAY involved works, this is classy and catchy. What makes this song stand out from a lot of great K-Hip Hop collaborations is the way ELO, PENOMECO and GRAY’s voices work together. They have three very distinctive vocal colours - ELO has an extremely melodic voice, PENOMECO has a breathy and high-pitched way of singing and rapping while GRAY’s tone is deep and relaxed. This makes for a very colourful and fun song. If you like a strong K-Hip Hop collaboration, “LOVE?” by ELO, PENOMECO and GRAY is the song for you!

Jung Jinwoo “Nowhere”

Ever since K-Pop Star Season 5, Jung Jinwoo has proven to be a phenomenal RnB singer-songwriter and have continued to improve after his signing to Planetarium Records. It is shocking that he and the other PLT boys are still relatively unknown, even though they have only dropped bops. His newest song “Nowhere” is arguably one of the best Korean RnB tracks of 2019 and showcases his further honed production and singing skills - his voice is super light, clear and smooth with a mild tinge of huskiness. Just 71K views for such a superb song makes no sense. If you are a fan of DEAN and Crush, you would be obsessed with this song!

LEEBADA “ㅎㅇ (High)” ft. PENOMECO

This is another K-RnB masterpiece that seemed to have completely flew under the radar to K-Pop fans. Playing on the Korean internet abbreviation for Hi (ㅎㅇ) and High, this song has classy drinks lounge music vibes but is also playful at the same time, fully showcasing LEEBADA’s high-pitched and airy vocals. PENOMECO’s addition in the song is perfect, as his voice and LEEBADA’s work together so well, like the male and female counterparts of the same singing style. If you are a huge fan of HEIZE’s music, you would really enjoy LEEBADA’s “ㅎㅇ (High)”! 

LIM KIM “YELLOW”

Back in 2015, every K-Pop fan knew Lim Kim for her quirky electro-pop sound as she dominated charts and was Mystic Entertainment’s it girl. However, her return after 4 years received little to no attention for unknown reasons. Not only is Lim Kim back but she returned stronger than ever, taking on a much more aggressive and edgy persona while singing and rapping about female empowerment and fighting against the objectification of Asian women. “YELLOW” combines traditional East Asian orchestral instrumentals with electronic beats and Lim Kim’s unique mixture of chanting, singing and rapping, creating a powerful anthem in the process. If you are a fan of Lim Kim from before or is a fan of artsy and experimental music in general with a strong message, you would love Lim Kim’s “YELLOW”!

PRIMARY “Bad High” ft. Jade

PRIMARY is definitely one of the best producers in K-Pop, with ground-breaking and beautiful collaborations with Zion.T, Hyukoh, Beenzino etc., oftentimes before the acts are even known in the mainstream. PRIMARY continues this in “Bad High”, working with Jade, the main vocalist of virtual girl band XGirls. This song is phenomenal not only because it sounds good, but also because it goes in directions you never expect it to go. Starting off, the song sounds like the emotional and slow-paced folk-pop/rock works of Lucid Fall and Hyukoh, then it switches up to a satisfying drop in the chorus, where the aggressive use of hi-hat loops changes the slow-paced song to an exciting ethereal art-pop sound of the likes of Grimes. The MV is also beautiful and unsettling simultaneously. Why this masterpiece has only 97K views at the time of writing this is beyond me when PRIMARY has so clearly outdone himself yet again. If you enjoy PRIMARY’s past works and also experimental art-pop, you would love “Bad High”!

RAD MUSEUM “Dancing In The Rain” ft. Jusén

After Hyukoh and Jannabi’s rise to the mainstream, one would expect more attention to be given to indie artists with unique vocals. However, RAD MUSEUM seemed to have flown under the radar even though the vocalist is all sorts of unique with his piercing and emotional vocals which seems to combine soul, alternative RnB, and indie rock all in one. Maybe it is the lack of an MV and big label promotions but this live performance video would show you the charms of this phenomenal artist who is also a part of Club Eskimo and his amazing song “Dancing In The Rain”. This song is simply art - it feels pop-rock like Sting’s “Shape of My Heart” but the way it is delivered also feels like soul and RnB. If you want to be blown away by talent, you should check out RAD MUSEUM’s “Dancing In The Rain”!

Which non-idol songs do you think were underrated this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let the song sharing begin!!!

[the-lesbian-writer-81]

Ya’ll!

I wanna conversate with all 42 of you!! (when did that happen, last I checked, I had 20 lol thank you for the follows btw!)

But let’s discuss some things!

Reblog this with your favorite song(s) in general, and tell me why! I wanna hear what kind of songs you all enjoy!

(This all ends up being just a list of my favorite kpop songs, just warning you all)

I’ll start~

1. 144340 - BTS

This song just spoke to volumes to me. I was gonna go with The Truth Untold, but this one has been on my mind a lot lately. I love the sound, how chill it is, and listening to it a first time, you’d think just that. It’s chill. And it is. But listening a second time, you notice something in their voice in which you missed the first time. Is it anguish? Pain? But you feel something different. Then reading the lyrics, it came together. 

THEIR VOICES OMG OKAY- So I love me some vocals. I love me some raps. The rapping was amazing, it flowed so nicely. I love how the raps, and vocals alike, started with softer tones, and as it went on, they got stronger. But the strong was accompanied by the soft, and it complimented the sound as a whole. I just really love this song and I can go on about how beautiful this song is don’t @ me.

2. Tempo - EXO 

OKAY LISTEN

FIRST OFF, I linked both the Korean and the Chinese on there

Second...

BIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH

SEHUN WENT OOOOOOOOOOOFF

I’M SO FUCKING HAPPY I LOVE MY TALENTED SON

Okay now that I got that out of the way

The song wasn’t what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised, because... I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. But I loved it.

The music video is so aesthetically pleasing, the song as a whole is just so- I can’t explain it. The song seems easy vocal wise, and I love it, because it allows room for them to focus on the dance when performing live. The adlibs in the back are so good. Chanyeol and Sehun’s rap was amazing, Kai’s dance it on pOINT- vocal line really fucking making me second guess my sexuality tbh

I love Suho going “Baby girl~” he just sounds cute- and the way he says “Morning Call” during that one dance move with his shoulders doing some version of the shimmy shimmy and i died, Suho’s so cute

Minseok with that hair though boi pls (I kid pls don’t hurt me--)

Lay didn’t sing in the Korean, and I was gonna fight SM myself if he wasn’t on the Chinese version. 

3. One Of These Nights - Red Velvet

Okay, this song is hella emotional. Like, the first time I heard it, I cried. So hard. I had no idea what the song was saying, but the imagery of the music video told a story I understood, but didn’t at the same time. 

Then I looked at Theory videos, and the song just impacted me more in a way that just crushed my soul. The song is beautiful, their voices are so melodic and blissful, yet pained and full of longing. This is a song that’s really stuck in my heart, and just- Ugh, I can’t with this song. Wendy’s voice is so strong, Seulgi is a good blend of soft and strong, Irene is very angelic, and both Yeri and Joy have a very sweet tone. I love the production of the song so much. Their voices are beautifully complimented by the hauntingly beautiful instrumental. I just really fucking love this song.

4. Siren - Sunmi

So, Sunmi. Sunmi is a very beautiful being. Her solo songs have been wonderful, and I love each and every one of them.

Siren, though. Siren really snatched my heart. 

Powerful vocals with an 80s vibe to the song?? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP--

I love the concept this song took! Took me a while Siren being a play on words for both the aquatic being and the ringing noise from police cars and shit lol I was slow

But the imagery of the video was astounding, Sunmi looked like a goddess, vocals on point as always, and just- ugh- I love her so much I can’t--

5. Hann - G-Idle

The biggest Fuck You song I’ve heard in a while. And I love it so much. 

First off, I really think Shuhua should get more lines. But I love the way the song worked. It’s so powerful, and strong, and SOOYEON’S RAP SLAYED ME COMPLETELY

Out of all of them, I believe YuQi has a very unique voice. It’s rare to hear someone in kpop to have such a deep voice like that, and I love it so much. She shocked me when she sang in Latata, and the shock came again in Hann. I hope the best for these girls, honestly. 

6. What Is Love? - Twice

Okay... 

There is so much gay in this, my lesbian heart couldn’t handle it.

The concept was so fucking cute! I love that the girls played each other’s love interest when they could have easily hired men to play the parts. But no, they went with this approach, and I love it. The movie references were amazing, the girls had such a sweet and sincere longing for true love to find them, it attacked my heart-- 

Also, Jihyo slayed me- She’s my ult bias, and I just ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

BONUS

The Last Blossom - Yanan and Jun (Originally by Faye Wong)

What I picked up from the song is that idols are merely human, and us idolizing them the way we do now is futile, because, again... they’re humans. And at some point, they could end up disappointing us standard-wise, and that we shouldn’t hold them to such high standards.

The original is so raw, and emotion inducing. Faye has such a impacting voice, so genuine and harsh with these lyrics. Her message comes across so clear, and it’s what everyone should hear.

Yanan and Jun’s take on the song is so breath taking. Maybe because I associated it immediately to Yanan’s breakdown, and how Jun comforted him, but I could really feel it in their voices how this song just screams out a message to let us know that they’re merely human. They fall, they hurt, they cry, they mess up. Sometimes, they’re overwhelmed with their own success and making sure they better themselves to please an audience that’s probably gonna grow over them after some time, for a reason over the other. 

Both versions scream this message. One’s raw vocal wise, and the other sounds sad and on the verge of wanting to give up. And I love every bit of both versions.

[worlds-shortest-astronaut]

Reasons to love Ateez

So Ateez burst onto the Kpop scene on October 24th with an explosive debut.  The reason why their debut was so successful was because they’d been well-managed in the lead up to their debut.  KQ Entertainment did a great job of building up hype around them and preparing them for their debut.  But let’s get into the important stuff – why I think Ateez is so great.

 I’m going to lead with this most important thing they’ve got going for them: their stage presence and their charisma.  In kpop, the groups are relatively large and there is a lot of emphasis on having them work and move as a cohesive unit, in unison.  At the same time, they need to be interesting and exciting in order to keep the audience’s attention – they need to own the stage. There are many different ways to do this.

 Let’s use BTS as an example because I think they really do have incredible stage presence.  They’re dancing is ridiculously in sync but, at the same time, each member stands out as an individual.  They each move differently and, when they have their solo sections, each member has a clear personality or attitude.  Seventeen, in contrast, go to the other extreme – they have good stage presence as a unit.  They’re pretty good at highlighting one member at a time but I feel like they’re strength lies in how they move as a unit.  Stray Kids come through with an interesting balance – they have big, bold choreographies like BTS but also move really, really well as a unit. At the same time, they also have members that shine individually (Minho, Hyunjin and Jisung in particular).  

 But I think Ateez takes it to a whole new level.  They function brilliantly as a unit (they’re still relatively new, though, and the synchronicity breaks occasionally but we’ll cut the rookies the some slack) and as individuals.  Literally everyone commented on their facial expressions and/or their energy when they debuted. And it’s something they’ve demonstrated from very early on – their performance videos? ICONIC for their expressions.  

 There is also wonderful chemistry between the members.  Mingi and Hongjoong are constantly playing off each other in their raps and while dancing. San and Wooyoung are really good at interacting with the crowd and also playing of each other’s moods and expressions.  Yunho and Yeosang really throw themselves into the dances and Seonghwa is generally just rude as hell when dancing.  And it captures people’s attention. A lot of their choreographies also involve formations where they interact with each other – they grab each other’s hands or make shapes together – and this cements their stage presence as a unit.

 At the same time, their individual personalities shine through. It’s easy to recognise each member.  Examples: Hongjoong (smirking and generally doing the most to wreck all of us), Seonghwa (biting his lip), Wooyoung (don’t get me started), San (needs to stop). They also have different ways of dancing and I LOVE THAT.  IT’s the same with BTS – it’s so easy to distinguish Jimin from Hoseok from Taehyung from Jungkook.  I noticed with Seventeen that, as time went on, their dancing styles became more and more similar – this was an advantage since they really do take advantage of the size of their group (there are other reasons but this is getting too long).  

 But I really, really, REALLY HOPE that Ateez continue to shine as individuals on stage because it’s so, so interesting.

Besides their stage presence/charisma, I genuinely think Ateez have a great rap line (and I’d like to see some other members, like Wooyoung or even Yunho try their hand at rapping).  They use the contrast between Mingi and Hongjoong’s voices to their advantage and it WORKS SO WELL a;sekgjq;lewkjt.  Their vocal line is pretty strong, too – Jongho, of course, is a vocal powerhouse and I love San’s voice.  Yunho is both a very good singer and an incredible dancer, as is Yeosang. I’d like to see how Seonghwa’s voice develops because I think he has a pretty versatile voice. Also whoever produced Pirate King and Treasure was a GENIUS. I know EDEN worked on Pirate King and, honestly, what a fucking artist. I also think it was a very clever idea to promote Pirate King over Treasure – the latter song is definitely more boy-band-ish whereas Pirate King is really unique and different.      

Anyway, those are some of the reasons why I love Ateez.  I also think they’re really well-managed.  I don’t know how well KQ Entertainment takes care of their idols but they’re definitely doing something right when it comes to building hype and publicity for Ateez.  Ultimately, I love Ateez because they bring a whole new kind of energy to Kpop and because I think their music is LIT.  Did I mention their Intro to their first mini-album? Because that was a straight up film trailer and nearly killed me the first time I heard it.

[vkstar-kagemori]

WHAT is up fellow Gamers it’s an intro post

Hello! I’m Jules (she/her), I’m 21 years old and I’m excited to meme with you all! I took a pretty long hiatus from the DR community, but this is my fourth game since I came back.

Now to introduce Fake Punk Gakupo, better known as Kagemori Kanta, the SHSL Visual Kei Artist! (Public bio is here!) Because, as they would insist, it’s truly an art. But what visual kei really is differs from person to person, as the phrase can be interpreted as anything from a music genre to any musical act that utilizes varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes in their performances. Visual kei takes a lot of inspiration from Western glam rock, and fans of the movement are often drawn in because of the level of expression presented by artists!

Kage’s band gets their sound from a marriage of goth rock and synthpop, and the band is known for their over-the-top (but what about visual kei isn’t over the top?) aesthetic that’s been described by a certain fanclub as “modern vampire chic.” The band has yet to comment on this description. It’s embarrassing.

So! Would your character know Kagemori?

If your character is interested in the visual kei scene (or similar subcultures of music), it would be hard not to hear of Kagemori! They’re the lead vocalist for the upcoming visual kei group “Deadman’s Party,” and they’re touring this spring! Before becoming popular, the band frequented public places, restaurants, festivals, and bars in Tokyo.

He also recently appeared on advertisements for the eyeliner and mascara brand that his band uses during all their performances.

If your character is a fan of idol groups, you character might have heard of Kagemori. He was in the popular group “Afterschool,” an all-boys idol group, until three years ago (and did a loooooot of public/televised appearances and advertising with this group). Maybe they were at the Tokyo concert that Kagemori’s band crashed last year - or maybe they just read about it on fansites. Orrrr, maybe they heard of what caused Kagemori to leave the idol group and go on a musical hiatus? Hm, hm.

Besides having killer vocal cords, Kagemori is very outspoken via interviews about things he sees as issues in Japanese culture. This isn’t incredibly surprising, as visual kei puts an emphasis on individuality and a certain comfort in being unique. What is surprising is just how critical they are about the idol industry...many, many aspects of the idol industry. 

If your oc lives in or frequents Tokyo or the Akihabara area (part of the Chidoya ward), maybe they’ve seen Kagemori out and about? He’s not exactly hard to miss, and he often hangs out hogging the Dance Dance Revolution machines in local arcade when Deadman’s Party isn’t doing a performance.

If you want any more info on basic background stuff your chara might know about Kagemori, send me a dm I guess? I won’t think it’s out of the blue or anything, and I love to scheme. ;3

OOC Stuff

Shipping is never my end goal in RPs, but I am open to it in the long run!

I don’t have a strong preference of public vs private threads honestly! And for future reference, I’m cool w/ any of my private thread partners creating backlogs of our threads for organization once the thread is over, no need to ask.

If you draw Kagemori, I’ll a) love you forever bc I’m cool w/ that and b) apologize about how many accessories they have. 

If I don’t get back to you immediately, it’s not you! Some days I have less social battery than others, but I do truly enjoy talking to the muns in RPs I’ve been in and this one is no exception!

Please do tell me if you feel like I’m not including you in any way! I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way for long in an RP group if it can be helped.

Trivia!

Kagemori’s vocal range is incredible! His natural voice is strong, medium pitched, and very clear, although he can reach a convincing soprano if he warms up properly.

The rabbit skull logo is something that Kagemori doodled on the back of a takeout napkin, and the rest of the band liked it enough that they ran with it as their logo.

Horses probably unsettle Kagemori the most. They look weird.

Somewhere out there in the dark corners of the internet is a cover of Kagemori singing “World Is Mine.” Best not to bring that up.

They main Bayonetta in Smash Bros. Look at them and tell me they’d main anyone else.

His hips don’t lie, although it is questionable how Kagemori can wear skinny jeans so much without losing leg circulation.

He’s been open with his fanbase about how he’s exploring his gender and doesn’t exactly vibe with the concept of masculinity, and even he’s unsure of what it is right now (and I’m not even exactly sure what Kage’s gender identity should be RIP).

[pashpops]

Impulsive

The biggest boy group with the biggest fandom from the biggest company

Members: Taejoon, Yejoon, Hyunwoo, Daeho (maknae), Chanyoung (leader), Romain

Fandom name: Heartbeats

Stage Name: Taejoon Birth Name: Bae Tae Joon Position: Vocalist, Rapper, Dancer Birthday: 1994 Zodiac: Leo Height: 180cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Yellow, red Favourite Food: Cheeseburger Least Favourite Food: Buckwheat noodles Hobbies: Playing guitar, writing music, working out

 Facts: - Group puppy, unanimously voted member with most aegyo and who loves skinship the most. - Before becoming an idol, he played guitar in a fairly well-known underground punk rock band! - Has a tiny soft voice and tends to be quiet, but he’s not shy at all, he just prefers to listen. - Ideal type: someone cheerful and talkative but who is older and who can lead him.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - veryyyyyy adhd, always running late and sometimes doesn’t show up at all, but as he’s very popular, it always gets excused. - heavy drinker and huge party animal. Gets very rowdy and noisy, not to the point of being violent but definitely to the point of disturbing other patrons at bars. His hyungwhoring gets turned up to 11 as well, with Yejoon as his frequent victim of snuggles, cuddles and whiny demands for affection. He never remembers it, though, and even when shown video evidence he’ll excuse it as “just a once-off thing” and “you guys are just exaggerating it to be funny”.

Stage Name: Yejoon Birth Name: Moon Ye Joon Position: Main Vocal, Dancer Birthday: 1991 Zodiac: Gemini Height: 178cm Weight: kg Blood Type: AB Favourite Colour: Black Favourite Food: Thai green curry Least Favourite Food: Mushrooms, violently and irrationally Hobbies: FASHION, freestyle dance

 Facts: - Even though he’s a year younger than Hyunwoo and Chanyoung, he’s the de facto leader, as Chanyoung, the real leader, is way too soft to actually take control and Hyunwoo simply doesn’t have the drive. - Despite being the main vocalist and one of the best vocals in the industry overall with a unique clear tone and fantastic range, he actually auditioned as a dancer! - Huge variety star, though not on the same level as Hyunwoo. - Well-known for his unique, genderless and often outrageous fashion choices, especially his manicured nails. - “Mother” of the group, but also the “cat” of the group. He switches between “caring and loving to borderline smothering” and “don’t touch me I hate you go away but also pay attention to me and love me” at the drop of a hat. - Ideal type: someone gentle and warm, someone whose presence feels like a hug, even if you’re just sitting in silence doing your own things in the same room, someone responsible and good-natured, someone older and more mature, someone who can understand his work, someone who has a nice smile, someone who is a little shy but not to the point of being embarrassed to be seen together, someone who will do what he says but can also take the initiative… he is very, very picky.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - DIVA in every sense of the word. Immensely talented in vocals and dance and even a pretty good rapper, bombastic on stage, but extremely demanding and temperamental. He’s undeniably talented, easily one of the top entertainers of his generation, but even despite that and the backing of the largest and most successful company in the industry, he’s still always in the tabloids for attitude scandals. - Was told by the company to “fix” his tooth gap as a teenage trainee, but he refused and threw a tantrum about it, and now it’s become his trademark. - Used to be very very thin, unhealthily so, and put on a lot of weight in the past few years (even though he is still skinny) both in fat and muscle tone. Even though he objectively looks much better, some people act like he’s stopped caring about his body, and that he should be ashamed of putting on so much weight. He has responded by showing off his new curves (which are barely there, but still, compared to how thin he used to be...) even more than ever. #haterswillsayitsphotoshop - Genderfluid, has some more boyish days and some more womanly days and some both and in between and neither, and doesn’t really care how people refer to him. - In a serious relationship with Chanyoung. They’ve had a nebulous romantic and sexual relationship since their rookie era, but with Chanyoung’s enlistment, he realised how much he really loved him and spent the 2 years Chanyoung was away either moping or working himself to death. To say he was happy that Chanyoung felt the same way and wanted to be with him no matter what is an understatement… even Yejoon’s detractors (of which there are many) have noted how he glows lately.

Stage Name: Hyunwoo Birth Name: Kang Hyun Woo Position: Vocal Birthday: 1990 Zodiac: Libra Height: 180cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Light blue Favourite Food: Affogato Least Favourite Food: Stinky tofu Hobbies: Telling jokes, nagging

 Facts: - Impulsive’s variety king. He might only have 5 lines every comeback, but he's hosting 5 shows! - Though Impulsive were popular from debut, they skyrocketed to fame after Hyunwoo introduced the group on [insert funny parody name of Strong Heart] and, more importantly, the “official pairings”, which are: 2joon (Taejoon & Yejoon, Dog & Cat Couple), rodae (Romain & Daeho, Prince & Princess Couple), and chanhyun (Chanyoung & Hyunwoo, Leftovers Couple). It was the first time an idol openly acknowledged and encouraged fan shipping, and was considered both hugely controversial and extremely funny, especially with how blunt he was about simply forgetting to ship himself or Chanyoung and how simple his reasoning for the others was (2joon are very close but have virtually opposite ways of showing affection which makes their interactions funny to watch, as Taejoon is very physically affectionate and Yejoon is a total tsundere, and Romain and Daeho aren’t really that close but Romain looks like a European prince and Daeho looks like a pretty princess). - His nosejob is fairly obvious when you look at his rookie era photos, but he acknowledges it and attributes it to Daeho accidentally breaking it during practice, so he had to get it fixed. - ideal type: someone who listens well!

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Knows his career as an idol will be fleeting, and is trying his hardest not only to keep himself afloat with all his variety hostings and guestings, but also to make sure his group stays relevant. He’s done more to keep Yejoon out of trouble than their company has, and their company works HARD for Yejoon. - Though you wouldn’t know it from seeing him at work, he actually suffers pretty badly from anxiety. Part of how he copes is through being a motormouth! - The story behind his nosejob is true, except for the part where it was an accident. Daeho had actually just thrown a particularly good punch for a young teen, and one on purpose and in a fit of anger after Hyunwoo had ignored Daeho asking him to be quiet while he was practicing and kept talking loudly with a back dancer. It was a massive internal incident at the time as they had just had two back-to-back chart-topping singles and Hyunwoo is a variety staple and Daeho is by far the most popular member of the group, so it wasn’t as simple as putting either of them on ice. Luckily, that same day, the album production had hit a standstill and they had to delay their next comeback anyway, so Hyunwoo had time to get his nose repaired (and turned into the “ideal” while they were there, which isn’t anything like his original nose, which is why some people doubt the “accident” story) and Daeho got effectively grounded.

Stage Name: Daeho Birth Name: Park Dae Ho Position: Vocal, Maknae Birthday: 1994 Zodiac: Capricorn Height: 171cm Weight: kg Blood Type: A Favourite Colour: Coral pink Favourite Food: Steak, blue Least Favourite Food: Eggplant Hobbies: Reading about true crime, doing experiments on the hyungs

 Facts: - The pretty princess of Impulsive and the forever baby maknae! - Very famous for his beautiful, waist-long black hair and his sweet face, he’s considered one of the industry’s top beauties, even over girl group members! - Super 4D, always thinking and saying bizarre things. Combined with his resting bitch face, it can sometimes come off creepy… - Ideal type: none

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - Really, really hates his “pretty princess” nickname. - Hates it when people misgender him in general. Once as a mistake is annoying enough, if understandable given that he cultivates a very traditionally feminine appearance, but he loathes being constantly called a girl just because of his looks, and especially hates that it goes hand-in-hand with people infantilising him. He just likes wearing pretty clothes and having his hair long! - Unsurprisingly, as he debuted at a very young age and does have such feminine looks, he’s seen the worst of society and has very little love for the human race, least of all their fans. He sees them as desperate losers at best and inhuman hordes of zombie scum that should be put down at worst. Really doesn’t see how anyone can like their fans as anything more than ATMs, let alone be as lovey-dovey as Romain is with them. - Maybe started a cult?

Stage Name: Chanyoung Birth Name: Lee Chan Young Position: Main Rapper, Leader Birthday: 1990 Zodiac: Libra Height: 177cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Black Favourite Food: Melon cream bun Least Favourite Food: None Hobbies: DJing, working out, getting bullied by the members

 Facts: - Down-to-earth and a little shy, he only became the leader because he’s the oldest, and only became the main rapper because he’s the only one who can rap (or at least could at debut, Taejoon, Yejoon and Romain have all practiced rapping on their own now) but he’s still loved by all as the glue that keeps the group together. - Doesn’t go on variety much by himself because he has no variety sense, but with Hyunwoo’s help, he’s slowly getting better. Mostly by making fun of himself, but still. - Ideal type: Someone who’s bold and confident and can pull him out of his comfort zone, but who has a secret soft side that only he can see.

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - His past as a hilariously bad, off-beat, flow-less, babyfaced rookie rapper follows him even though he has genuine bars these days. He gets NO respect. - Left for the army earlier than expected after being caught in a drunk driving scandal. The company was more than ready to cover it up for him, being the leader of one of their most successful groups of all time and all, but he was deeply ashamed and wanted to repent properly. He was always the least popular member so not a lot of people cared that much about his scandal or his subsequent return, but he still gets a fair amount of justified hate, even though he’s learned his lesson. - In a serious relationship with Yejoon. They’ve had a nebulous romantic and sexual relationship since their rookie era, but Chanyoung knows how individualistic Yejoon is and didn’t want to tie him down by putting a name to their relationship before going to the army and thus leaving him alone for 2 years, because despite loving him to the point he’d die for him, he wasn’t sure if Yejoon was that serious and felt it was better to let him go and see if he still felt the same way once he returned. He was very relieved to find out that Yejoon did indeed miss him as badly as he missed Yejoon, and ecstatic when Yejoon immediately said yes to an exclusive relationship. But now, the question is… when is the right time to ask Yejoon to marry him? And why doesn’t he realise that Yejoon suggesting and them both getting left side underbust couple tattoos (Yejoon’s: “always on my mind”, Chanyoung’s: “forever in my heart”) is already basically wedding rings?

Stage Name: Romain Birth Name: Romain Min Hyuk Lee Position: Rapper, Dancer, Visual Birthday: 1992 Zodiac: Leo Height: 183cm Weight: kg Blood Type: O Favourite Colour: Silver Favourite Food: Boeuf bourguignon Least Favourite Food: Pickled radish Hobbies: Playing pranks, clothes shopping

 Facts: - Has a French mother and a Korean father, but was born and raised in Korea and only went to France for his primary and middle school years. - Was scouted while working as a clothing model. - Impulsive’s “romantic prince”, famous for his somewhat terrifying fanservice: even if you’ve only met him once before, he’ll remember! And then get upset if you mention having a boyfriend who isn’t him. - Ideal type: “our fans are my girlfriends~”

BEHIND THE SCENES DATA: - He genuinely is that weird about their fans. Like a reverse delulu stan, he treats every fan like they’re his real girlfriends. On the rare occasion that male fans come to meet him more than once, he treats them the same, but also gets extra jealous around them, like he wants to make sure that they only pay attention to him and won’t be seduced by all his “girlfriends”. - Very, very wealthy. While he’s obviously not a real French prince given, like, the revolution and all, his family is old money and his mother not only old money but also a CEO for a technology company who SG may have interest in... - While he doesn’t care about the members (and other people he knows outside of his idol life) casually using his Korean name (Minhyuk), he finds it deeply uncomfortable when fans do.

[veryotl]

Top five ballads!

This is really hard! i have about 43 that I really love, so picking my top five is super difficult T-T ... I’m just going to do my top 10!!!

10. Ending Scene/Palette - IU: Eyyyh it’s only a little bit cheating! Either way, I just couldn’t cut either one of these songs. Ending Scene is so sad but so beautiful, and the music video is just perfect. Palette is really special to me because I loved 23 so much and Palette is kind of the sequel to 23, a response to the song that asked “I don’t know who I am or who I want to be” that is just listing out all of her favorite things and saying “this is who you are, and that’s enough. You don’t need the stereotype someone gives you, you do what you love and that’s who you are.”

9. Blossom Tears - VIXX Leo and Lyn: I really became obsessed with this song because of Leo, who is my VIXX bias, and his amazing acting in the music video. But the more I listened to the song, I started to like it more and more. Their voices are a fascinating combination, my favorite part is only in the music video though, the very ending where Leo sings alone. Very beautiful, much sad.

8. The Manual - Eddy Kim: I kept hearing this song being covered by idols, so i finally went to hear the real thing and it was so nice I immediately had to add it to my sleepy time playlist. But the real charm to it is the adorable lyrics. A charming manual on how to keep a girl, walking her home slowly to spend every minute with her, speaking softly but occasionally letting her breathe and do her own thing. Very very cute song.

7. Gone - Lovelyz Jin: Another one that I got into from another idol, this one Xiumin of course. In fact, I didn’t even realize until just recently that Jin was the same Jin in Lovelyz, and I had been listening to the song for about 2 years ==“. Very lovely ballad song with a good instrumental that really builds up the song, including a really great piano and guitar and violin track and of course great vocals. 

6. Cherry Blossom Ending - Busker Busker: Also known as the ultimate pop ballad or the song that somehow always manages to come back on the charts without fail year after year. It’s just so... charming. it’s got a cute pop synth with an acoustic guitar and soulful vocals. It makes you so happy and spring-y and is sweet enough to give you cavities whether you speak Korean and understand the lyrics or not.

5. Melted - AKMU: It’s only been a solid two months or so since I’ve started listening to this song, even though I’ve been an AKMU fan for two years or so. As with all of AKMU’s songs, a knowledge of the Korean language is helpful to understand references they make in the lyrics (the Korean word for adult, eoleun, sounding similar to the word for ice, eoleum, the song asking why the world of ice is so cold or the world of adults, furthering the general idea of the song being about starting to realize the realities of the world from being a child who wonders why adults can’t love everyone), you can still appreciate the beautiful composition as well as the lovely vocals without it. We also have a taste of their harmonization in some parts of the song too, which is fantastic because their voices seem to melt together in a wonderful way. On the whole, a lovely song.

4. Sing For You - EXO: Originally, I didn’t like this song as much as the Chinese version of Promise, however as I began to listen to it more and more it began to grow on me. Chen really handles the ballad style very well, and the members who don’t handle vocals as well such as Kai and Sehun still come off fantastic. It’s very calming and just a super relaxing song.

3. Monodrama - Huk Gak and Yoo Seungwoo: I find this song to be just the best natural relaxer. It starts out as a very soft song but the contrast of the talented vocals in the chorus is beautiful. The high notes are strong and high while still maintaining the calm atmosphere of the song, and the two voices are a beautiful pair together and the rhythm of the lyrics are just amazing.

2. The Little Prince - Ryeowook: I like this song for a lot of the same reasons as the last song. Beautiful, calming instrumentals. Strong, controlled vocals that are somehow soft despite being steady. I also really love the progression of the song, building up from nothing and just slowly getting bigger and bigger until the end where it tapers off. I also adore the video. It uses a lot of great imagery and colors. I can’t say I’m a massive Super Junior fan. In fact, I’ve mentioned a few times that it seems to me that I like a lot of Super Junior covers much better. However, I adore Ryeowook. He’s precious but can still hold his own in the savage banter of Super Junior. Plus he’s just freakin gorgeous, okay?

1. Say Yes/When I Grow Up - Seventeen Seungkwan and DK/Vocal Team: Occasionally, I’ve been known to complain about the vocal team only ever doing ballads. Even hip-hop team tries various styles (and they do fantastic) of their music. However, I also can’t complain too much because they just ace the ballads every single time.

Say Yes is a beautiful ballad that showboats the two main vocal’s ridiculous skills, even going so far as to keep the backing track almost entirely silent save for one piano for a good third of the song or so. Seungkwan and DK have such unique vocal “flavors”, Seungkwan with a beautiful almost husky tone that can be utilized in singing older songs as well as trot and DK with a contrasting beautiful completely clear and clean-cut voice. The difference between smooth deep coffee and cool refreshing water and what happens when you put the two together and make a cold brew. It’s a perfect mix with a fantastic atmosphere. 

When I Grow Up was one of my least favorite Vocal Unit songs for a while. It seemed kind of... “Oh. We’re doing this again. Okay”. Expected. Even after reading the lyrics, I was cold to it for a while. 20 has a sort of happy and hopeful tone, Fronting is a super chill sort of song with a great vibe, Space has the feels and Popular Song has a lot of great backing instrumentals, so When I Grow up just felt... underwhelming. But I’ve come to appreciate it more and more as I’ve listened to it. The emotion in the vocals, especially Seungkwan’s, give a great sense of the theme of the song - longing for something but not being able to physically make it happen any sooner. The feeling of hoping for a day that may come in the future, and realizing that it might be stupid to wish so hard for something that will change everything and might not even turn out the way you want, but hoping anyway knowing that. The mix of traditional instruments as piano and drums with elements such as a synthesizer and... I have no idea what the instrument in the beginning is but maybe a really chill electric guitar? makes for a fascinating mix of worlds. 

Honorary Mention. Simple/Smile Flower- Woozi/Seventeen: Thinking about it, all of my top 3 have been covered or made by Seventeen... Oh well. Either way. Simple is a fantastic song that really helps us to understand a lot of how Jihoon sees the world and what he wants from his life, and considering he’s not a terribly emotionally bearing person, it’s refreshing to see him express his feelings through his music. Smile Flower is also good for this reason, giving all the boys to say an outlet to not only the fans but also to each other through the outlet of “I know the future is uncertain and I know you’re scared, but we’ve made it through so much together and I know we’ll make it through anything else if we’re all one, and I’m so grateful that we are.”

[momobage]

Band Yarouze Review: It’s a battle of the bands!... and I love a fish man

Band Yarouze (バンドやろうぜ！) is a Japanese card collecting rhythm game made by Aniplex and Sony Music. The goal of the game is to collect cards through gachas and events by playing various songs performed by the four main bands: BLAST, OSIRIS, Fairy4pril, and Cure2tron. Unlike the other games, the player’s character isn’t really in the story; you are more like a bystander or “god-like” being who just observes and sometimes speaks to the members. Therefore, all you do is play the songs and unlock cards, events, characters, and band stories. 

I started playing Band Yarouze around March 2016 because the same friend who recommended Ensemble Stars wanted me to suffer more… I’m not even kidding. Even though I like rhythm games, I wasn’t too interested in playing this one at the time. A few characters caught my eye, but not enough to invest into the game. However right now, it is my second favourite game and brings me just as much suffering as Ensemble Stars does. 

Main gameplay: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥

The gameplay for Band Yarouze is extremely simple: tap, hold, hold-slide, and swipe (left and right) notes when they slide down towards the bottom of the screen. The notes follow the beat of the song, so it’s easy once you understand the flow. Rhythm games are very popular in Japan, but each of the mechanics are slightly different. I think out of the ones I have tried, Band Yarouze is the most forgiving. For example, some other rhythm games need hold and release notes at a specific time or they won’t count. This makes it difficult to play songs  with a full combo, especially if you’re on expert mode with a max note speed. However, in Band Yarouze, if you press a hold note a little longer than indicated, it won’t penalize you unless you miss the next note.

Another interesting point of the game is the event function. Almost all Japanese games have some type of event aspect. In typical games like Ensemble Stars, during the event time you play through and complete lives to gain points and rank up to collect event cards. But in Band Yarouze, you complete the song to gain points and objects (like keys, buns or chips) to either collect points, rank, or exchange items for event cards.

For example, during an event called, “Stand by Me GIGS: Nice Dream, Journey Mood,” (photo above) you try to collect points and rank up to get special cards and items such as stones and gacha tickets. You can also win steamed buns after clearing the event song and use them to play the time-limited event songs. However, in the current event, “Advent of the Quattro Virtuoso GIGS: Dante of the Purgatory,” (photo below) you go through the story challenges and play special lives. If you clear the Live, you win chips and exchange them for limited Super Rare (SR) and Rare (R) level cards. I find collecting points and ranking events easier and more fun than just exchanging items, even though it is easier and less stressful. I like that Band Yarouze changes the rules and mechanics for events because it keeps the game interesting. Even if you play the same song repeatedly, it is still challenging to collect or complete the event. I kind of wish other games would also change their event rules from time to time.

(Left: unbroken card, Right: Broken card. P.S. This is a boy, all of Cure2tron are crossdressing boys)

Unfortunately, Band Yarouze is only available via the Japanese app store and Google play store. As I mentioned in the Ensemble Stars post, you can download a separate Android Game Platform or create a Japanese iTunes account to access these games. There aren’t too many tutorials for Band Yarouze but gyrotalon from Reddit made a basic English guide to the game. This helped me understand the navigational system and how to BREAK and level up cards. You can also check out Banyaro English Tumblr and Banyaro English Twitter for translated event announcements, basic character information, and replies to questions from other Band Yarouze players.  

As always, it is free to play and has in-game currency called “medals.” I didn’t use to care about the gacha in this game before since it is kind of expensive (it costs 500 medals for a ten card pull). However, one of my favourite characters got a pretty card and it all went downhill from there. So far, I’ve spent a bit more than $350 on Band Yarouze, which I’m not even surprised. Honestly, since the past few events have been featuring my favourite band or characters, I’m surprised the number isn’t much higher. I spent a lot a few weeks ago, trying to get a SR of Shin. He came home after four or five 10-character rolls… but at least he came home… unlike a certain someone [Cough Koga Cough].

Overall, Band Yarouze is really fun and addictive. Even if you aren’t good at playing music games, you can still have fun trying to beat your score. You also probably don’t need to buy medals unless you want a certain card, but the game gives you many rewards along the way. I’d recommend this game to any beginners who don’t have much experience playing rhythm games. The songs are well composed, the characters are quite unique, and the game is easy to play.

Characters: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥♡

When I started playing Band Yarouze, there weren’t any characters that immediately caught my eye. My friend pointed out some characters that were my type and sadly, I completely agreed and my obsession began. Each band includes one vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. They each also all play a different type of rock music adapted with modern Japanese elements: BLAST is classic/aggressive rock, OSIRIS is emotional/punk rock, Fairly4pril is alternative/indie rock, and Cure2tron is electronic/pop rock. I have members I like within each band but OSIRIS is by far my absolute favourite.

Their music and appearances are cool and edgy but their lyrics and sound are still so expressive. I love all their songs! My top three are “Darkness,” “Voice,” and “Heavenly Breeze.” Although there is only one vocalist, I love each member’s voice for its unique sound and way of speaking.

(My favourite Kyo cards. He is a beautiful angel with a beautiful voice who should never feel alone.)

Takara Kyo (Kobayashi Masanori) has a quiet but strong voice. His shy personality easily shows through his looks and attitude. But when he performs, it is breathtaking. Especially in “Heavenly Breeze,” Kobayashi’s vocal range and consistent control create a passionate and memorable performance. I’m sure I have cried listening to him sing; it was just so beautiful. Kyo struggles with his thoughts and problems internally but can relieve his stress through his singing. I can’t wait to hear more songs from him that are absolutely ethereal. 

(My favourite Ray cards. He is a silly and stubborn dork who should always dream big.)

Ray Cephart (Hanae Natsuki) has a confident and silvery voice. His voice reflects his energetic and playful side, as well as his serious and bossy side. Ray’s overall tone is quite high but leaves a ringing that isn’t necessarily bad. Although, within OSIRIS, I like his voice the least I still find him very charming and sweet. He may act like an idiot sometimes but it’s because he is a big dreamer who wants OSIRIS to become the best band in the world.

(My favourite Makoto cards. He is a strict realist who should continue to follow what he believes is right.)

Kurusu Makoto (Uchida Yuuma) uses a lower and quiet stern voice compared to Kyo and Ray. As an active medical student, his personality is always serious and blunt which easily reflects in his voice. He has this mix of sexual attractiveness and mysteriousness in the way his sentences flow. It’s hard to describe but I’d want to hear his voice if was a tutor explaining math I don’t understand. Even though he can be cold and harsh, he still dedicates himself to practice bass and help the other members of OSIRIS realistically achieve their goals.

(My favourite Shin cards. He is a mature, fish-loving old man who should always smile and help others.)

Finally, Koganei Shin (Umehara Yuuchirou) has a low and husky voice. I’m simply in love with everything about him. His voice is so calming and reassuring, it makes me smile easily. I really wish he had a singing part since he voices Hasumi Keito from Ensemble Stars and other popular idol characters from different games. He has a beautiful singing voice! Let my drummer boy sing! [Internally weeping]. 

As the leader of OSIRIS, Shin’s reliable personality easily reflects in his voice but so does his silliness and extreme love for fish, especially Hachibiki Sashimi (he works at his parent’s fish shop). Though I hope he always helps cheer people up, either with his music or simply his personality. I must say out of all my favourite characters from the mobile games I’ve reviewed so far, realistically, Shin is the closest to my idea type. He is handsome, cool, friendly, reliable, strong, smart, and responsible; what’s not to like? I know he’s only a 2D character and will never really exist, but if he did, I think I would just cry forever.

Story: 3/5 ♥♥♥♡♡

The main story in Band Yarouze is about the characters’ struggles and difficulties about debuting as a band. There are sometimes choices during a character’s story, but whatever you choose does not really change the outcome. There is no additional gain if you answer “correctly” except to see the characters’ different reactions. Event stories are usually really weird. Sometimes they have impossible storylines like the band members turn into eggs on Easter, or they get transported to the Underworld on Halloween. It could never happen, even in the game’s universe, but it kind of happens anyway and fans still love it. Sadly, there are very few English translations of the story. Even Banyaro English Tumblr doesn’t have full translations of every chapter, only the prologues and some event chapters. I think the game is either not popular enough to have full translations or the game doesn’t have a large international fandom: both are likely. I’ll wait for the day someone translates them all so I can enjoy my silly boys being silly.

Overall: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥♡

Band Yarouze is an amazingly fun, simple and addicting game for anyone to begin playing. The songs are catchy, the artwork is beautiful, the characters are unique, and the story is wild. I don’t completely regret spending money on this game. But I think would be little kinder to my wallet if OSIRIS and Shin were not involved. I would recommend this game to beginners who like great quality music and art. This would be your best option to learn how rhythm games work differently than puzzle, RPG, or other card collecting games. It can teach you to appreciate music and help you diversify in the types of games and music you may play or listen to. I think it will also make you feel like a music genius even if you’re musically challenged like me!

[isilie-kins]

We’re back everybody (and once again, I’m absurdly behind in my reviews)! After a brief and glorious respite from the heavy formation choreography and the blatant pushing of an Ace member – it’s all made a comeback in Brand New Morning, Momusu’s declaration of war on 2017.

Ok, well it’s actually not a war declaration. It’s an uplifting song about moving forward in confusing times and using all your power for good and so forth; it’s the usual morning fare with perhaps a whiff of politics (although to say this song is about Trump seems stupid to me). But this is a BRAND NEW morning (get it?) and we have two fabulous new members to shake things up.

I didn’t expect this kind of a pv though. I mean, it certainly suits the song, but this is taking the formation dance thing to an absurdly literal place.

The last couple of singles haven’t struck me as heavily formation the way Help Me or Brainstorming are, and there hasn’t been any Ace to push either. They gave Maria a chance to center in Sou Ja Nai and BOSS, Masaki-kins, Fuku-hime and Oda have all had their moments. Mostly, 2016 was a year of unity for Momusu; I was just getting used to the idea of ‘no ace’ and enjoying how much everybody has grown (except maybe Haga, who just is kinda there – adorable, but not really a big part of things yet).

But as soon as I saw this face:

I thought, “Yep. Yokoyama’s gonna be the promoted one, for sure.”

You know how I know? It’s not just because she’s younger and has the kind of generic idol face the Japanese public loves (settle down – I’m not saying she isn’t cute because she definitely is), it’s because I ALWAYS like the one they don’t promote as much better than the Ace.

And I LOVE Kaedi. I think she’s fierce and poised and has strong deep vocals that are really going to add a lot in the future. Besides, she’s demonstratively worked her ass off to be here. We already know she has drive and ambition and you can tell me that the fruits of her labour aren’t clear in her fabulous debut, but I won’t believe you. More than possibly any new member I’ve ever seen, she just blended into the group like she’d always been there. I still notice her, look for her, appreciate her, but she fits in so well that you can only tell she’s new when she’s answering questions; when performing she’s all in and on fire.

Yoko, on the other hand, got in after barely three months of work. Which is fine, I mean, good for her, but if we compare them to each other, I’m not seeing why Yoko deserves to be pushed more. Maybe because of her lack of experience/exposure, but I doubt it.

I also need to point out what many people have pointed out: that she has the same confidence and sly ambition as Riho and that she sings EXACTLY like Zukki. And her name is Reina.

I mean why don’t you just punch me in the FACE, Momusu!?

WOA! Ok, sorry! Also: perfect solo line is perfect. I love her voice. Duet with BOSS about who is more ikemen – now!

You know as much as I complain about one being promoted more than the other, I love the dynamic between these two. Kaedi worked hard for years to get a major debut and now that she has it, she still seems so floored with her victory that she’s perhaps a bit absentminded when she talks. However, her background with H!P Eggs (they will always be Eggs – don’t bother correcting me) has given her confidence and poise in both singing and dance. There’s a real ikemen feel to her even though she has an elegant stature. After working for years for this chance, I seriously doubt she’ll let Yoko just take over.

Yoko, as I’ve said, reminds me of debut-age Riho: she’s absolutely ambitious without alienating anyone  (she has that cute, reassuring smile, after all), she has a background in dance, with singing being a bit more difficult for her, and she’s instantly getting a ton of close-ups and attention from the Japanese fans. Her smirk is the same debut face as Riho. When given the chance to talk, she’ll talk a ton. Have you seen her replies in the Pocket mornings?? Then there’s the crooked-baby-teeth-super smile…

As I mentioned before, they have such an odd senpai-kouhai paradox: Kaedi is the senpai but now they’re part of the same generation, so they’re equal. Kaedi has worked diligently while Yoko (I can’t call her Reina; it’s too traumatic) got into a group quickly on some mysterious charm. The other members cried in happiness that Kaedi had finally gotten in, while they are now constantly mentioning and promoting Yoko in their blogs…Our 13th gen seem to be on good terms, but they definitely get their digs in to each other.

It’s gonna be a fight indeed…in fact it looks like Kaedi kinda punched our little Yoko in the back of her head. Oooh that smarts.

After all, isn’t this pv all about aggression? It’s absolutely saturated in red. Red is an aggressive colour; it means passion and fire and no-time-to-mess around. Coupled with that militaristic marching, what else are we supposed to think about?

Also did anyone else notice this thing:

This red flash happens a few times and I really have no idea what it is. Some angry swiss cheese?

My first thought was, “blood cells”, which it isn’t. There is something biological about that image. Unless, it is angry cheese, in which case, colour my face… red.

*rimshot*

Fuku-hime mentioned the theme is “marching band” and since Momusu have had a few years to get used to formations, they seem to form their X, circle and triangle shapes effortlessly. The costumes are the right mix of cute and strong, although I was hoping for a revival of the Rival Survival concert gear. I suppose I’d have to wait for a concert for that one.

Since the theme is marching band, we gotta have some flag-bearer action! BOSS!

BOSS seems pretty excited in this one, although I honestly didn’t notice her much until her solo lines.

B: “I don’t care if you didn’t notice me – I’m INVINCIBLE.”

B: “RISE MY FANGIRLS AND SWEEP THIS STAGE CLEEEEAAAAAN-“

The terrifying power of our Ikemen: everyone is swooning and they don’t even know why! Look at her eyes people; she’s losing it!!

I love everything about this cap, especially Maria’s very matter-of-fact way of punching the camera. And what’s with that extra hand on Ayumin’s shoulder??

Seriously though, good luck competing with Kaedi for who’s the most boyish, Boss. She’s already protested that her and Kaedi look too much alike and their interests align and therefore clash too. If you notice in some of the performances, Kaedi started to part her hair on the other side…

Y: “Haaaaay, guuuuuuys. Dis about me?”

No, Yoko. No, no. I’ve talked about you already. Just cause there’s a million shots of you doesn’t mean you can just keep popping up like this.

Y: “Whatevs.”

Ahem.

Moving right along…

Today she isn’t Fuku-hime…she is RIIDA!

Honestly, Fuku-hime seems so leader-like in this pv, in a way I haven’t really seen before.

F: “Don’t you steal now. As your princess, I simply don’t approve.”

As far as her performance, it’s pretty much flawless as always. The only thing close to a complaint I have is how quietly she sings during lives. Some times she just doesn’t project enough. I mean, that could be the sound guys screwing up, but since it’s happened so often, I don’t think so. I hope she’ll really belt it out in concert, because you can’t just be ‘cute’ in this kind of song.

…Ok, fine, maybe you can.

F: “Hail to da riida, baby!”

Case and point about cuteness: Haga-chin, who is so adorable whenever she pops up that I don’t even mind how I keep forgetting she exists.

Look at that little face – how can you get mad at her??

Y: “Dat’s just like meeeeee!”

HEY! What did I say, Yoko?! Get outta here! And you STOP that winking!

Ikuta brandishing the MM flag like a weapon! That outta keep them haters away.

Does anybody actively hate Eri-pon? I’m planning a post about her so I won’t go into it too much, but I’ve noticed she’s gotten a lot more sullen in the past few years. She’s still trying really hard, she’s still smiling and being adorable and being the most photogenic of all the members (except maybe Oda, who is so freakin’ gorgeous this year that I can’t even sentence make!), but there always seems to be a frown in her eyes.

But let’s talk about her solo part please!

She gets the second bridge line and I don’t think she’s ever sounded better. It’s a bittersweet line and she delivers it with that unique, but rarely seen Eri-pon vulnerability; I even hear some of that vibratto she’s developed. It was just such a sweet delivery. I nearly teared up I was (am!) so happy for her. I feel happy when members we never hear from get solos, but I’m almost never emotional about it! Eri-pon just wants it so badly! >_<

I think a lot of the girls, despite speaking in rather high registers, don’t have the singing range for super high-pitched melodies. You could also argue they aren’t sure how to hit those notes without bellowing.

I have said it before and will continue to say it forever: singing is a skill and your voice is a muscle as well as an instrument. Using it properly, so that it won’t crap out in three years or get ruined forever, is critical for girls who sing constantly and sing LIVE. We laugh at singers who take ridiculous precautions before their concerts: drinking odd herbal concoctions or not speaking at all until the performance or making ridiculous noises repeatedly to “warm up”, but then these people sing and we shut the hell up because all those preparations WORKED.

This range is somewhere between low and high; it’s easy to sing, just girly enough.

I’ve seen Eri-pon perform this line on shows and she’s clearly not used to getting a center part, but I hope her shyness and insecurity won’t get the better of her. She’s probably the Musume I’m rooting for most, even if she isn’t my favourite.

Y: “Haaaaaay, I’m totally fiiiiiiine with center parts, ne?!”

Yoko, for fracks sake…

ERI-PON WILL ROUNDHOUSE YO’ FAYCE IF YOU DON’T QUIT IT!

Let me just mention here again how amazing Kaedi is during her solo moments.

*dies*

Close-up shots are usually a clear indicator of how much improvement is needed, or how much the girl’s confidence has developed. Kaedi is wonderful to watch. I didn’t get any of the derp I usually find in 12th gen, or the wide-open mouths I find with the 10th. Kaedi seems to already be able to feel the song and not fuss about whether or not she’s enunciating a lot.

Plus there’s the fact that she’s so gorgeous and elegant.

K: “Don’t forget the guns.”

Epic elegance.

I’m not actually sure if that is Kaedi or BOSS…

B: “I-I can’t remember either!”

B: “Who….who am I?”

Boss, settle down. This is Kaedi!

Y: “Hey…hey MOVE KAEDIIIIII-“

An example of both derp and the wide-open-mouth-syndrome. The struggle is real.

I had to include all three of the best shots of Maria, because if you can’t cap Masaki-kins, Maria is where you’re going to get all your unbashed joy. She doesn’t get to do much in this pv, but I always notice her and she always has at least one moment like this one.

…Then she’ll turn around and be gorgeous. She’s totally won me over folks, even with all the Loverinrinwhateveritis nonsense.

Y: “Haaaay, listen, I won’t evar do gags like that, ok? I am an ace.”

Well Kaedi will give us a random Aiiiii~n fail-face in the middle of pwning the choreography. I think you can afford to give us at least one fail-face.

If you’re gonna keep popping up, at least you can give us a renewed Reina-fail.

Y: *random goat noises*

…Okay.

Let’s move on to a completely different kind of awkward and talk about Ogata now.

Ogata has finally gained enough weight to be able to hoist the MM flag. Well..hold it anyway…well mimic holding it. They probably CG-ed in the actual flag…

O: “Look, I didn’t come here to grow an angry Riida out of my head and listen to insults, ok?”

It’s not an insult, really. I’ve just noticed how skeletal she looked in the past few years and now she looks a bit more healthy now. That isn’t really the point though. The point is that there is something about Ogata that means I keep noticing her. It’s probably because she’s just so damn odd.

There’s something odd about that whole 12th gen, isn’t there? Haga is like a stuffed-animal, but can be a bad-ass when she gets the idea; Maria is s giant-smilie-face come to life, but is incredibly versatile as a performer (even if her voice is still pretty rough); Nonaka is derpy even though she’s the most composed out of all of them; and then there is vacantly smiley Ogata who can’t sing and always seems awkward until you strap a pair of skates on her (seriously, look it up – she’s quite capable and looks very comfortable on the ice).

What is this expression? I DON’T KNOW!

Ok…we’ll leave on that note.

Perfect Oda is perfect. Wait…that IS Oda, right?

HAH! Found you!

O: “Woa, center again! No waaaaay!”

I confess 2016 was all about Oda for me. Once I discovered her strange tension with Ayumin and her ‘bullied’ character, I was intrigued. I’d been thoroughly blown away by her birthday solo performances, but I’d never quite seen her as an ace, or potential ace. She’s kept powering up, and I’ve kept wanting to learn more about her. Ultimately what I discovered is, I really like her.

I think she’s gorgeous and I love her voice. I feel like she didn’t really have a character before last year. She was just sorta there as a pleasant back-up. Then one line from Ayumin in a dvd magazine (“I don’t wanna be on camera with Oda.”) led me to discover that they bully her a bit. And rather than shrinking away, she loves it. She requests that they bully her more. It’s like finding her place has given her the confidence to really push herself in performances. Yasuda Kei was a bullied character and it turned her into probably the most infamous member of them all! Being bullied can be a gold mine!

Before the Sexy Cat business, I really couldn’t say she was a potential ace, but that single felt like a starting point. Even if Yokoyama is gonna be pushed, I doubt Oda will stay on the sidelines for too long.

I couldn’t honestly say she’s my favourite member though; I don’t really have a favourite, which is another strange and wonderful thing about this lineup. I feel like I’ve always had someone I’m watching or noticing more than others. Sure, Oda has my favourite voice, but I also love Fukuhime’s voice; I love BOSS’s ikemen stuff and the craziness of Masaki-kins; I’m rooting for Eri-pon and I adore Maria’s nonsense. I simply can’t decide.

There isn’t anyone to really dislike either. Call me boring, but I like that.

Y: “Oh, so dis means you like me? Oooooh…”

Sure, Yoko. Now please be quiet. *sigh*

Turning around is apparently Ayumin’s specialty. I don’t get it any more than you do…

Ayumin has changed so much. I still get that Daichi feeling from her, but now that I know she doesn’t get along with Oda (“they don’t ‘match’ well” – however you wanna say it), she seems a bit more cut-throat to me.

You can call it bias if you like, but I don’t think she’s really shown that side of her. All that aggression in her dancing is finally coming out in her personality. It’s like Riho’s exit finally freed her to aim for center. Or maybe I’m just more wary of her because this Oda thing doesn’t feel like it’s just for tv. Played up some times, sure, but it feels pretty real.

I certainly don’t dislike her and some tension in the group doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s not like Oda and her can’t do variety together, it’s just pretty tense when they do. I guess I didn’t think Ayumin was that kinda girl.

Hey, sometimes when you’re wrong, you’re pleasantly surprised.

If she’s pushing forward, I’m loving it. Her voice isn’t my favourite but I respect how much work she’s put into her singing. I love that they’re finally using her rap skills (not in this song, but in Jealousy, Jealousy – the Tsunku addition to this lovely single) and I hope that will become a permanent thing.

Be honest: H!P rap is usually a sad, albeit cute, failure, with lots of ‘uh’, ‘like dis’, and ‘you know?’s. Let’s not forget ‘yo, check it out, yo’.

*facepalm*

Speaking of facepalms, who are the derp-iest derps who ever derped?

Both: “It’s YOU!”

That’s correct!! Both: “Hooray!”

It made me laugh so much when I saw they’d paired up Mega-Derp Iikubo and Derp-chan Nonaka. The two Derps sound great together, blending surprisingly well. It’s fitting as they both seem to cycle from derp-to-cool over and over. Iikubo has fewer instances now, but she’s probably the originator of the derp-face. I was so happy they were together here.

It’s nice to see them get some play. Iikubo felt oddly absent last year, I think suffering from some health issues (please correct me if I’m wrong here) and when she was around she’d sorta fade into the background. There wasn’t even any of her “sweet, sweet honey time” in backstage moments.

Nonaka has been moving up steadily. I read a few rants about how her English-speaking was going to alienate Japanese fans. I don’t know if that’s true, but whether the fans are intimidated or not, she’s gotten a lot of opportunities with those language skills. Her singing has improved every year and her confidence never seems to waver. She always looks so comfortable, even when she says she’s nervous.

N: “Haaaaay, man, don’t like- don’t -no, I’m not that – no…”

I: “Oooh, I’m not derpy at ALL in this!”

True enough, Iikubo, but you’ll always be Mega-derp to me, no matter how many sweet-sweet-honey-times you have.

LOVE the dance-break! So much fist-throwin’ and stompin’ goin on!!

That’s really all I got here. Two new members kill it.

*squee*

So 2017 is starting to take shape as a year about unity. Everything about this slams strength-in-numbers into your face: the formations, the militaristic feel, the flag brandishing. After all, the idol-business is a war for fans and sales and how does Momusu compete?

By dancing and singing…

Together, in unity!

And of course, they want all the fans to move forward and do positive things with whatever strength they have. It’s a lovely message at any time, but I suppose if you’re taking it as a political statement, it’s particularly fitting right now.

This is ‘brand new morning’, pushing forward with their new members, their long history, and their strong unity holding it all together. You could argue the song is “too strong”, but after last years Mukidashi de Mukiatte I feel they are at a level to pull this off. The new members don’t slow it down one bit.

Y: “I’m da ace. Dats why.”

I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Yoko.

~Isilie

Brand New Ace Formation We're back everybody (and once again, I'm absurdly behind in my reviews)! After a brief and glorious respite from the heavy formation choreography and the blatant pushing of an Ace member - it's all made a comeback in Brand New Morning, Momusu's declaration of war on 2017.

[idolizerp]

[ LOADING INFORMATION ON 99 TRAINEE JIHO…. ]

DETAILS

CURRENT AGE: 20 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 15 SKILL POINTS: 03 VOCAL | 04 DANCE | 04 RAP | 04 PERFORMANCE

INTERVIEW

the way people see you, your image, is arguably the most important aspect of an idol. the perfectly crafted piece of a an ever growing puzzle, forced into being not too much but never too little. a person being poked and prodded at, never alone and never safe, as a mold for whatever their company wants from them. it’s unavoidable. however, in an industry full of fakes, it’s easy to forget that they’re people and go nabi is a pitch to show just that. naturally, no company in their right business mind would let an idol run free and do as they pleased. but they can give that illusion.

nabi isn’t a very memorable person—not exceptionally attractive, no unique personality traits, nothing to make you take a double take. at first glance, he’s exactly the person that a company would turn away or change completely. boring was the word that followed him whenever he went. he was the standard korean teenager—innocent yet mischievous and someone to go to just if you wanted to talk or hang out. he was the simple boy next door that no one ever looked twice at, a background character in the life of everyone else around him. but he still had star quality. an undeniable charisma and charm to him whenever a mic was put in his hand or when the music cue sent him straight into his dance. his plain features and blank page of a personality gave room for someone else to be born with each stage performance. whethis he was meant to be cute, a bad boy or even sexy when he got old enough, he could become that person with the power and skill to back it up. one would assume a company would love to shape him, love to break him down completely to build a new, to paint a masterpiece on the canvas. however, things don’t always go the way we expect.

as of now, his company is simply allowing his to be hisself—or at least a heavily censored and far more glamorous version of it. they’re trying to ride the “refreshing little brother” vibes until the end. idols people can relate to in the sea of fakes and perfection, the man mothers and fathers love as much as their children, the easily marketable type. he’s not too much, not too little. the perfect cool resting area that seemingly gives no one a reason to despise him and everyone a reason to like him. the perfect contrast from the powerful yet graceful performance he always gives. his rather plain personality makes his stage presence seem even more impressive, appearing as if a switch inside him is flipped as soon as music plays. his reverse charms never fail to put smiles on the trainers faces and even those of the othis trainees, breaking whatever idea they have of him and never repairing it. however, the slippery slope he’s forced to operate on makes things much harder for him. he has to know when he’s blending in too much or not enough, when he’s being more annoying, and what jokes are appropriate. despite the leniency he has when compared to a lot of his fellow trainees, he still has to work hard to be, well, himself as odd as it seems. how much of himself is a little too much?

BIOGRAPHY

MAY 2003

as only a small child, things that catch go nabi’s attention for long are few and far between. his short attention span latching onto the newest colorful and unknown thing but this, this he loves with all his tiny little heart.

watching his older sister perform with members of her dance academy with his mother holding tightly to his small hand and his father resting his on his head of silky black hair was like witnessing someone perform magic. he doesn’t understand it, but he doesn’t feel he has to. his naturally curious self doesn’t think he needs to look deeper, to know what it means, he just loves watching, admiring. go nari moves with passion and confidence. she knows she’s good and she wants to show that off, drawing all eyes on her despite the group around her. nabi wants that too, he wants to be just like nabi when he grows up. his tiny body and high pitched voice expresses only that dream as they walk home as a family, nari holding her younger brother in her arms and their parents follow behind. his excited babbling and wild gestures makes the family laugh, they love radiating from them and making even those around them smile.

JANUARY 2004

the night of nabi’s first performance, he spends most of his time crying into his sisters arms. after he begged and he pleaded with his parents, they allowed his to join a simple dance class, geared more toward diversity in the craft rather than one genre. he’d excelled, truly, especially when it came to areas like hip hop and contemporary but he was still a child and he was dreadfully afraid to get up on stage.

in the days leading up to it, he wanted nothing more than for the day to come quickly so he could perform with everyone and even do the solo he was assigned for doing so well. it was all he’d ever talk about, even to strangers on the street. it was clear he wanted it more than anything, but when the time came he couldn’t do it. his arms had wrapped around his sister’s neck and never let go, no matter who tried to talk to into it. he was scared. so so scared. it wasn’t like when it was just his, the other kids and the teachers. this was real. parents and other people would be watching his all by himself. it was too much. so he continued to cry, small body trembling with the intensity of his sobs. “ nabi-yah, why are you crying? don’t you want to go up and perform for everyone? “ he’d always loved his sister’s voice, it was nice and calming, perfect for her dream of becoming a singer. despite his still hiccuping sobs, he opened his tightly shut eyes to look at her, bottom lip trembling. “noona, I’m scared.” he admits, tiny fits holding onto him so tight his nails left imprints in his palm through the fabric of the shirt.

“ that can’t be true! the nabi i know was so excited to be here and do his solo. he was ready to travel in time to get here“ his eyes narrowed at her but he wasn’t crying anymore. “ the nabi i know is really strong and brave, even more brave than the big boys at the park, “ nabi started to smile and so nari continued. “ he’s even more strong than me. the nabi i know is going to do amazing on his stage. “

and just like that he went. running to jump in line with all the others just before it was time to start. despite the obvious jitters, nabi performed amazingly and with a big smile, one that made his eyes crinkle and his chubby cheeks becoming more prominent. at the end, his tiny little hand reached as high as it could to wave to his sister who was smiling just as proud as their parents.

JUNE 2008

on june 23, 2008, the go family spends their time together celebrating. nari had been scouted by a company, she was going to live her dream. nabi was happy for him, he really way. she was the one who made him realize he shared the same dream and passion—the desperate want for that stage and the natural talent just for it. it was what she always wanted. and yet he still felt that she shouldn’t go. that she should just stay with them, be his older sister. once she was gone, that was just it for them, for a long time. the times they spent practicing together at the dance school she attended, the times they would sneak midnight snacks together with hushed laughter, the times he’d be so overwhelmed he could only cry. being aware of that, knowing he wouldn’t have his rock anymore, felt like some was stripping him of his whole world. he was dependent on her, way too much, but she was the person that made his who he was. he didn’t feel whole without her.

on the day she moved into the trainee dorm in Seoul from their humble home in Chuncheon, he spent the night crying in his room. he was happy for her, so so happy, but the ache in him overpowered it. it wasn’t like she was far, just a few miles away, but that made it even worse. the thought that the two would drift apart and become to separate so close together hurt him. it had always been them against the world but now nabi was alone.

JUNE 2011

by the time nabi was 13, he’d gone through changes. changes in his appearance, changes in his personality, changes in his interests. despite that, his one constant remained his love of dance. with his sister away, working to achieve her dream, and him not being very popular among his peers—just fading into the background as he did but that was okay—he fell completely and happily into his dancing. he was too old for the group he used to be in but not skilled enough to run with the big boys at a dance academy, still very juvenile. however, when the open events happened, he made it to everyone and was always front and center with a determination to make his sister and even himself proud. it was this that got his noticed, what got his a place at the most popular dance academy in the area once he was old enough. they were nothing special or unique, not so close to the hub that was Seoul, but solely having the opportunity made him feel like he was on top of the world.

he worked hard, as hard as he could, every single spare moment he got. by day, he was a diligent student. ranked average in his class, loved by teachers, participating but not showing off. just typical. but by evening, when he was assigned new choreo, he became a superstar. the sharp eyes, the fluid movement, the beautiful smile just at the end to contrast with his intense performance and bring everyone around his to a sense of awe. it was only natural the next step was to get his an audition. it was lucky for his, that he didn’t even need to go looking. with his activity at the academy, every single free moment being spent learning and performing different choreo—original and cover, it made sense he was in a majority of their posted videos. even if he wasn’t the center or focus, he still managed to draw attention. he showed he was there and he wasn’t going anywhere. it was the perfect aura to get attention from a scout.

JUNE 2013

after spending less than years with the dance academy, nabi had discovered how to make dance his own. it used to be his connection to his sister, the thing the go siblings shared. in nabi’s mind, they’d always been a pair but the longer they went apart, he knew that had never been true. it was always his holding onto her, afraid to take a step away. as he went through his dance classes, he learned to take that step. to make it his, no matter whose it was.

given his roots in a variety of dances, he was versatile and never made an attempt to settle. constantly stepping out of and redefining his comfort zone was what made dancing fun. he never wanted to get comfortable—he was a pusher. when things stopped being challenging, they got boring and dancing offered his not only happiness but also an escape. an escape from his boring everyday life in his boring home in Chuncheon. it was exciting with so much variety. he never thought of it as good or bad, impressive or underwhelming. it was just his.

so never in a million years would he have expected to be contacted by a scout. he didn’t believe he was “talented” or “perfect for become an idol”, he just thought he was hard working and a good student. but the sweet talk and the thought of being able to be with his sister again, to be close with her again. being an idol was never his dream but he supposed he could make it be.

JANUARY 2015

nabi lasted less than two years before he broke. it wasn’t the workload—piling the intense schedule of a trainee to the life of a student was hard but he kept his grades up just as he had before and he never fell behind—nor was it the homesickness that got so many. it was an injury.

through his years in dance he had suffered injuries of course, sprained ankles and broken arms. none of it ever worried or stopped his for long. he was one to bounce back, bright smile on his face as he yelled to others to keep up. but this. this stopped him dead in his tracks.

it wasn’t during a solo practice session, just him and the music that ran through him as he moved. it was during a monthly evaluation. all eyes were on his, some with awe and others with envy, as he moved to the rhythm. despite being in his own beautiful world of dance, his facial expressions were always in check. wink here smirk here. it was all going well, so everyone thought. until he fell.

his moves weren’t particularly complex, just fast movements and turns. and yet it still broke him down. the immediate reaction was that it was a simple broken ankle. it wasn’t a big deal, despite the terrible pain. he would simply spend time healing at home and then be back. even if it ruined his evaluation, he was still be fine. he thought that all the way to the emergency room, even after the inflammation and pain set in. he was going to be alright.

he’d torn his meniscus, he learned with his mother holding onto his hand tightly. she’d spent the time the doctor was away crying, feeling guilty for her baby getting hurt. nabi had been assuring her the entire time up until he heard the news. it was a white-white zone tear, a bad one in other words, and would require surgery. as a dancer most of his life, he knew what meniscus tears were and how people rarely recovered fully. returning pains, the occasional lock of the knee. all things that would hold his back. still, nabi wanted to have hope.

JUNE 2016

nabi was healed—had been for a while—and yet he was hesitating to dance for the first time in his life. everytime he took a step to go for it, to shine like he always had, he would break out in a sweat. he was at high risk now, with his surgery. it was almost guaranteed he’d have trouble with his knee down the road, 15 to 20 years away, and the more he pushed himself the faster it would come. but he was fine, the doctor assured him. he was fine, he assured his mother. he still spent nights in the practice room crying into his hands. he’d have to go home, give up on being an idol and living the glamorous life. he had to. he couldn’t keep this up, not with the fear of ruining his knee again or worse. but he stayed.

he worked, harder than anyone else. he didn’t have a choice. but he couldn’t be trusted to dance front and center, not by himself and not by his company. he started being trained in other things, rapping was something that truly clicked for his. maybe it was his vocal tone or it was the contrast between the harsh way he delivered his lines and his sweet facial expressions but whenever he practiced, it brought smiles to his trainers faces. but he felt he could do and be more. he’d already lost his biggest asset and strongest skill. he wanted, more than anything, to make up for it. that didn’t mean it wasn’t hard, didn’t mean he didn’t spend late nights practicing and early mornings studying for school in a few hours, didn’t mean he didn’t absolutely hate it. but he’d made it this far. he’d made it this long. he had to stay. what else would he do?

singing and rapping was never something he loved as much as dance. he simply tolerated it. it was his only option, he tried convincing hisself. he couldn’t trust hisself to be relied on to be center and deliver excellent choreo like he used to. he’s was too scared and he didn’t have anyone to convince his he could do it all on his own. if he was just a rapper or a vocalist, he could give excuses to cover his mistakes. it was the wrong reasons but he worked and worked, diligent as always.

AUGUST 2018

now nabi’s waiting. waiting for an opportunity, waiting for his confidence to come back, waiting for it all to come crashing down on his. waiting. having given up his possible dance position, all the fun and excitement of it all was gone. all of it had simply become routine. wake up early, spend an hour training, showering, going to school, coming back to train until late at night, study, go to bed. repeat, repeat, repeat. even as others around him came and went, whether they debuted or couldn’t handle it all, he still stayed. even if he himself no longer wanted to be there, he stayed and he waited. what he’s aiting for, he wasn’t sure. he just continues his routine, continues being a creature of habit. after five years, he doesn’t see a point in leaving anymore. even if he hates rapping and loathes his singing voice, he does it. it’s what’s asked of him after all.

he wants to learn to be happy. learn to appreciate and love himself, grow confident and who he’s becoming. but it’s hard to let go of who he was. he was always the dancing machine, the one to own the spotlight. but now he hides, shrinks away from the center and lets others take his place. it hurts. it’s him keeping himself here, him keeping himself locked away and trapped, letting every opportunity slip away. but that’s okay. so he just waits. waits and hides away.

[recentanimenews]

CR Features' Predicts the Future of Anime Awards

It is award season! In preparation for Anime Awards, our editors and columnists looked to the past to predict the future. Trying to predict the future was subjective for each of the editors and columnists but this is what came out of it.

*Spoilers below*

Ricky Soberano

Best Film - Neo Yokio Christmas Special

    I instantly fell in love with this and not -just- because I’m a born and raised Neo Yokion. It has dope music, a gorgeously decadent color palette (and Christmas sweaters), allows for the audience to see New York and Bergdorf Goodman during Christmas time, has a good message about telling capitalism to fuck off, and mechs. What more could you possibly want in a film?

  Best Fight Scene - Yami vs. Licht from Black Clover

    Watching the captain of the Black Bulls fight at his full capacity against a comparable opponent was honestly insanity. This literal fight between light and dark was almost incomprehensible due to the speed and beauty of it. The fight was progressive and a winner wasn’t clear until the very end. I was cheering on the sidelines and was completely engrossed in every second of it. A visceral reaction like that makes it the best fight scene in my book.

  Best Character Design - Ryouma Ebata for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

    The character designs in Slime are not only distinct and easy to differentiate, but convey a unique aspect of each character's personality through visual design. Ebata-san didn’t need to go that hard for us but he did it anyways.

  Cayla Coats

Best Film - Liz and the Blue Bird

    The first five minutes of Liz and the Blue Bird have no dialogue but they managed to bring the audience I saw the movie with to tears. If that isn’t movie of the year-worthy, I don’t know what is.

Best Girl - Lily Hoshikawa of ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  Lily isn’t the protagonist of her series, but she taught us how to be brave enough to be ourselves, and that makes her the best girl in my eyes.

Best Ending - Pulse by Hina Kino, Rika Nagase, and Konomi Kohara from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

    There’s no better way to represent the truly rotten souls of Asobi Asobase’s protagonists than with this delightful death metal ditty that closed out each episode.

  Nate Ming

  Best Fight Scene - Sakura vs. Saki from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA Episode 2

    A rap battle is a war of words, and these two zombies-turned-idols threw down in the best way possible. We had some titanic, beautifully-animated fights this year (and then we had the last few episodes of Golden Kamuy, which was just one long, wonderful running fight), but nothing has stuck in my memory quite like some trash talk turning into a battle of the bars.

  Best Anime - Devilman Crybaby

    There’s so much that goes into a memorable work for me--key scenes, the soundtrack, the impact--Crybaby brought back everything that was amazing about the original Devilman and modernized it, treating new audiences to the excitement and horror of one of anime’s all-time classics. Give Masaaki Yuasa the keys to more classics, please.

  Best Boy - Tanigaki Genjirou of Golden Kamuy

  What a man. Let us all aspire to be as brave, as honorable, and as chesty as Golden Kamuy’s Matagi hunter.

  Emily Bushman

  Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Mamoru Miyano as Koutarou Tatsumi from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  This performance is exquisite purely because we know very little about the character of Tatsumi. Who is he? What does he want to save Saga, a place it seems like he’s not actually from? Why does he care about Sakura so much? Why does he ALWAYS wear sunglasses??? With few forthcoming answers, we have to extrapolate who he is through his appearance, his actions and, what he says, and how he says it. It is these last two things that Miyano excels at. Miyano brings Koutarou to life, and through his voice we learn so much about him- he pinwheels between borderline scary enthusiasm for Franchouchou, smooth-talking charm for clients, and devoted sincerity with the girls. The range in tone and emotion is awesome, and makes his voice a key part of understanding his character.

  Best Girl - Shirase Kobuchizawa of A Place Further than the Universe 

     Shirase deserves best girl not just because this anime focuses purely around her journey, but because each episode we learn a little more about her- what motivates her, what scares her, what she likes and dislikes, and, most importantly, the complex relationship she shares with her mother. All this builds into a final two episodes that emotionally eviscerate the audience in a way that both hurts and heals, just as we watch Shirase hurt and heal, and, ultimately, metamorphose into a better version of herself. And, because of all the wonderful character building, Shirase goes from being just another character in an anime to being a friend or a sibling, someone we can relate to on a personal level. This is what makes her best girl.

  Best Opening - Fighting Gold by Coda from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

  This OP is a winner for me for a few reasons. 1) The song is lit. I lived and died for the first ten seconds of the OP, with the brief pauses. I’ve never heard that done before, and it forces the audience to sit up and pay attention to what’s being highlighted visually. 2) The art and animation style do an amazing job meshing together Hirohiko Araki’s distinctive style with a secret-spy tonality, reminiscent of a James Bond opening. It provides the audience with a hint into what the season is all about- focusing on Giorno’s attempts to rise to prominence in a mafia- while keeping true to the original art style.

Best Boy - Ryu of Golden Kamuy

  Ryu is the bestest boy of them all: A doggo. He is a good boy. A sweet boy. A boy who followed the scent of his dead master’s gun across Japan, just to try to find his master Nihei again. <3 If he doesn’t get best boy, no one should.

  Nicole Mejias

  Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Kotono Mitsuishi as Tae Yamada from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  There are a lot of things that made ZOMBIE LAND SAGA great, from the amazing characters, songs, dance sequences, touching stories, and off the wall comedy, but one thing in particular was the glue that held that all together: The Legendary Tae Yamada! And without an amazing vocal performance from industry legend Kotono Mitsuishi, none of that charm would have been possible. Now, I know what you might say: “But Tae doesn’t speak!” which, frankly, is even harder to pull off in my opinion! Tae conveyed emotions, communication, and stood out as an amazing cast member because of her vocal performance, as limited in range as it might have seemed.

  Best Girl - Asirpa of Golden Kamuy

  Golden Kamuy is such an incredibly good series, and I feel that a large part of that is due to Asirpa. We hear a lot of talk about strong female characters in media, and frankly Asirpa, small as she may be, stands tall. Asirpa is a strong-willed and determined girl with the ability to not only survive, but to teach grown adults how to do so too, proud in her Ainu heritage and way of life. Asirpa never comes across as weak, and in many cases it’s her sharp mind and survival skills that have saved the day for her and Sugimoto. On top of that, she’s totally adorable! Asirpa’s huge blue eyes and distinctly charming facial expressions warmed my heart and made me want to see her succeed.

  Best Film - The Night is Short, Walk On Girl

    Frankly, a lot of anime movies tend to be very heavy on providing one-off “what-if” stories or little bits of fanservice here and there for fans of their respective shows, but a truly good anime film in my opinion is one that uses the medium of anime to tell a developed narrative in the span of a feature length film. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl did just that, sucking me in with the amazing animation style and combination of story threads that all paid off in the finale, when everything comes together and makes sense. The way the movie positions itself as a parallel to Tatami Galaxy was an extra treat, but even without having seen that, The Night is Short is a great film I can recommend to anyone and that I could watch time and time again and never get tired of!

  Anime of the Year - Golden Kamuy

    I generally like to think of my anime of the year as the series I couldn’t wait to watch another episode of, the one that I’d set my day around so as soon as a new episode released, I could watch it immediately. This year, that anime was Golden Kamuy, which honestly surprised me at first! I had no idea what to expect, and “historical action drama” didn’t initially grab my attention. What I found, though, was a series filled with unique, lovable characters (even the worst ones!), high-octane, high-stakes action, and a twisting plot filled with unexpected surprises and twists. I can think of many shows I enjoyed this year, but none kept me wanting more like Golden Kamuy did.

  Daniel Dockery

Best Film - Digimon Adventure Tri “Future” 

    I don’t watch a lot of anime films. Wish I did, and I probably will in 2019. But my knowledge of them is resoundingly lackluster. However, that doesn’t mean that my pick of Digimon Adventure Tri as Best Film is a sign of me having my back against the wall. I legitimately love Digimon, and I think that while the series of Tri movies had some stumbles, they warmed my heart with their continued themes about growing up and just how weird it is to be a teenager. Digimon has always been about goodbyes and how important it is to love your friends, no matter how much the world tries to tear you apart, and Digimon Tri nailed that. Also, you’ll always be my boy, Agumon.

  Best Opening - Make My Story by Lenny Code Fiction from My Hero Academia

My journey with My Hero Academia has also been a journey of finding great new songs to exercise to. And “Make My Story” is another fine addition to the list. “The Day” was definitely a bench pressing anthem, and “Peace Sign” was tailor made for leg day. “Odd Future” was more of a jogging/warm up song, while “Sora Ni Utaeba” was something to rally you for that last set of deadlifts. But “Make My Story” is my go-to if I’m trying to max out on shoulder presses or bicep curls. Anime is great, y’all.

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Soma Saito as Honda-san in Skullface Bookseller Honda-san

  I know that this is almost a purely comedic performance, but I am allllll about it. I didn’t expect to like Skullface Bookseller as much as I did, nor did I expect to like the protagonist that much. Honestly, I thought I’d inevitably get bored with his constant exasperated screeches of anxious terror, but I never did. Soma Saito turned “AGH. I’M IN OVER MY HEAD” into a vocal art form.

Best Fight Of The Year - Gridman vs Kaiju in SSSS. Gridman Episode 2

    The fights in SSSS. Gridman are both lovable homages to tokusatsu and action-packed laser fests that can stand on their own. I think there are probably better fights in the show, but none other cement SSSS. Gridman as a must watch anime like the fight in episode 2, where he first uses the Caliber sword to defeat a monster. It was one of those “If I wasn’t totally on board with this show before, I certainly am now” scenes, and I’m so glad that my 2018 received the gift of Gridman.

Peter Fobian

  Anime of the Year - A Place Further than the Universe

    I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t take this opportunity to throw in my hat for Anime of the Year for A Place Further than the Universe. This anime anime had it all. Excellent writing, direction, storyboarding, and characters. The overarching plot and individual character subplots were excellently paced and wonderfully executed. The emotional journey was just as heartfelt as the logistical journey taking the girls to Antarctica was fascinating. Even in the diverse medium of anime, A Place Further gave us a refreshingly original concept.

Best Opening - Black Rover by Vickeblanka from Black Clover

  Black Clover has made a strong showing with OPs, but Black Rover is above and beyond. It’s probably my favorite song to come out of this year in anime (except maybe the Hinomaru Sumo ED). The visuals are also excellent, not forgetting to lean on some slice of life content, which is really one of the greatest strengths of the anime, along with an original fight and some awesome hype building shots for the upcoming Yami vs Licht battle. I’ve played this OP like 300 times.

  Best Fight of the Year - Boruto and Sasuke vs Momoshiki in BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS Episode 65

    This fight easily takes the category for me. In addition to Pierrot bringing in a ton of new faces and returning Naruto Shippuden animators to give episode 65 movie quality animation, the choreography of the battle was some next level stuff. Naruto and Sasuke’s combination attacks contained the collected history of Naruto with callbacks stretching all the way to the first story arc. More than best of the year, this might be the best fight scene I’ve ever seen.

  Best Character Design - Masayoshi Tanaka for DARLING in the FRANXX

  If there’s one thing I can say for sure about DARLING in the FRANXX, it’s that the character designs were excellent. It’s no surprise one of the reasons Nishigori said he wanted to start the project was to work with Tanaka. The AnoHana character designer managed to create some hyper distinct characters despite a rather sparse world and the multitude of character uniforms were excellent. The order of Franxx and character designs is not entirely clear, but it sounds like some adaptations were made to align the designs, which means his excellent work was made that much harder.

  Best Boy - Rei Kiriyama of March Comes in Like a Lion

March comes in like a lion aired this year, which means Rei Kiriyama is indisputably the best boy of the year for the second year in a row. This season in particular really showed his best qualities. Rei really came into his own by realizing how much the Kawamoto sisters meant to him and trying to show his appreciation for their friendship. One of the most heartbreaking parts of Hina getting bullied was spending time in Rei’s head with his feelings of helplessness as he desperately looked for ways to save Hina from the same pain he had experienced in school. Season 3 when.

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Hina Kono as Hanako in Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

After the first episode of Asobi Asobase I was convinced Hanako would be the “dumb character”, like Oujo in Galko-chan, who would be the mediator/victim of the two more forceful personalities. I was hella wrong. Hanako is absolutely insane and Hina Kono absolutely delivered for the role, delivering on poor innocent Hanako, Grudge girl Hanako, Spanish Inquisition Hanako, and regularly screeching like a banshee Hanako. Her range and delivery were truly impressive and often well outside the usual vocal tropes for female characters in anime. A stellar performance.

Noelle Ogawa

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Soma Saitou as Honda-san in Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

I’ve worked bookstore hell before, and let me tell you, it was an absolute delight to listen to Soma Saitou scream about the happenings during his workshift. The polite customer service voice to the extremely pained internal monologues that you can’t let out if you want to stay employed; I felt each episode on a deep and visceral level. Even if you haven’t worked in a bookstore like I have, anyone who has worked with handling customers face to face for long periods of time will understand exactly what Honda-san is feeling, and Soma Saitou conveys that agony perfectly.

Best Animation - Pop Team Epic

Okay, but hear me out.

Most anime tends to have a standard set of animation, where even if the quality shown is high or low, how things look visually is still fairly consistent. That isn’t the case with Pop Team Epic. In working with different animation teams, the series allowed the teams to run wild in how they wanted to show each story, resulting in an insane variety. The stop-motion needlefelt music videos are completely different than the choppy and messy Bob Epic Team shorts. There’s a reason that the internet collectively lost it over Hellshake Yano. Pop Team Epic managed to mix up their animation styles with each short, and that’s something rarely attempted. Watching each episode was genuinely a blast because I never knew what to expect, perfect for the chaos of Popuko and Pipimi.

Wilhelm Donko

Anime of the Year – A Place Further Than the Universe

A Place Further Than the Universe took us on one of the grandest journeys in anime ever, and will hopefully be considered a must-watch title in the near future. The heartfelt story about the girls’ spectacular journey to Antarctica was one of the most well-crafted anime in recent years, making it an indisputable contender for Anime of the Year!

Best Opening Sequence – "SHINY DAYS" by Asaka in Laid-Back Camp

  Laid-Back Camp should at the very least have a fighting chance at the Anime of the Year title, but when it comes to 2018’s best opening sequence, there’s simply no competition here. Seeing Nadeshiko take off in her jet-propelled tent, and hearing the refrain kick in, always managed to put a huge smile on my face.

Best Character Design – Masaru Sakamoto for SSSS.GRIDMAN

Mecha anime really aren’t my cup of tea, especially those with old-school robots that transform by docking with trucks, planes, and the likes. And yet, I still gladly sat through all of SSSS.GRIDMAN, simply because of the gorgeous character designs. Looking at the excessive amounts of fan art for the show, I’m certain that SSSS.GRIDMAN has a realistic shot at the award for best character design.

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What do you think will be nominated for each category? Hash it out in the comments below!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com