I'm finally back from Korea!!! As promised, my next review will be on Suju's Break Down. I'm sorry it took two whole weeks to release this, but it had been hectic these past few days, especially since Chinese New Year just ended. Yes, I am actually an Asian. And now that I've told you, I shall have to kill you. Lol, just kidding. But seriously.
Music Video
Based on what I know of Super Junior's music videos, No Other was the last video where any actual acting had taken place, while Spy was the last video where the members had props to work with. For every other video between here and there, the members have done nothing besides dance in random techno-themed rooms. Where do they even get all these rooms?
Ebay?
How come SNSD and Shinee gets a music video with a concept while Super Junior doesn't? That is so unfair. SM, if you think that Super Junior fanbase are already loyal enough that they will just take in everything Super Junior related, then that is an insult. Those who are already on top need to work to stay on top. No one owes them a spot there.
Okay, so this song is about falling in love with a girl. How about adding an actual female in the video? I won't even say anything about all the members sharing the same girl. Instead of having the members just pose in front of the camera, they can interact with said girl while staring at her longingly. Or stretching their hand out towards her longingly. And clutching their heart with the other hand, also longingly. Do something, besides just gazing at the camera! The camera is not something you should be singing to- Oh wait, I think I get it now.
Video director sir, could it be that the scenes where the members stare longingly at the camera were in fact meant for fangirls to swoon when their favorite members admit to losing control when they are around them? I must say, that is pretty weak. It's the kind of strategy that Stephanie Meyer used to promote Bella. Did it make you like Twilight any better? I hope not. I personally would prefer it so much more if there was an actual girl for them to actually interact with so that they could express some actual emotions.
Although some fangirls might get upset.
My rant lasted longer than I expected. I'm sorry about that. Okay, one more thing. In the individual scenes where the members stare longingly at the camera, a feather breeze suddenly blows across the screen like a pigeon just exploded off the side. I understand that this song is about a girl breaking down the walls around their heart and leave them defenseless before her. And the feathers were supposed to add a more other-worldly, ethereal feel to the video...I think. But seriously, this song has such strong lyrics, so I wanted a much more dramatic scene, like a sheet of glass shattering in front of them. Or maybe a gunshot to the center first before the glass shatters. It's kind of old school but what's wrong with that? I think it's better than a couple of feathers floating across the screen. Assuming those are even feathers, because now that I've taken a closer look at it, they look more like someone just dumped the contents of a paper shredder on them. Either that, or this is the preview for the world's most disturbing anti-dandruff ad.
"They don't pay me enough for this."
Song and Lyrics
This is undoubtedly my favorite song from Super Junior M. Heck, I think this is my favorite song from Super Junior since their Bonamana days. I'm not really a fan of that whole digital, techno-sounding voice effect thing, so I'm glad that they finally minimized the use of that for the vocal part. But I'm equally glad they still kept that electro-funky beat for the instrumental because it added an edge to the song that made it go from average to awesome.
Also, this song has elements of an actual Cpop song rather than it being a Kpop song that was just translated into Chinese, and I really like that about it. There are so many Kpop groups these days who release albums in different languages in order to attract a more global audience, but a lot of them forget that most of those countries have already established their own genre in music. So instead of just pushing Kpop onto other countries, I think that idol groups should also experiment with different genres besides Kpop. If you want to produce a Japanese album, sing Jpop songs. If you want to make it in the US, create music that will appeal to the audience there. They could learn a lot from studying all the different genres of music out there.
Dance
Despite my disappointment at yet another Super Junior music video that features nothing but cool dancing, I thought that it was, well, really cool dancing. There a couple of pretty cool hand movements and the dance break done by the four members was totally awesome. If I had to say something, it would be when they did the shoulder rolling thing, they were a little out of sync. You guys don't get a pass, it was a messy five seconds. But besides that, I have no complaints. It was great.
You know whats weird? Super Junior's choreography tend to always include some steps which by all logic should look extremely silly, such as the apologetic hand rubbing in Sorry Sorry, or the zombie walk in Mr Simple. In this song, it's the chicken wing dance during the chorus. It's so weird that even Zhoumi cracked up in the video.
Don't think I didn't see you there, Zhoumi.
And yet they somehow manage to pull it off and make it look cool. Its unfathomable. Maybe its because they can dance through the whole song with a straight face. I'm pretty sure they are aware of how hilarious some of the steps are, and yet they are about as serious as a heart attack when they dance it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Kpop idols are true professionals.
Fashion
To be honest, I always had a problem with SM's stylists. As a natter of fact, after seeing Siwon in his shorts and Superman cape for Mr Simple, I was convinced that all of them needed to be fired. But I was pleasantly surprised that the stylists did a really good job with the outfits this time . They were understated, simple, and yet still managed to reflect Super Junior's style. And thank goodness there were no exposed nipples this time. Okay fine, the feathers on the jacket were kind of weird (What is with Kpop and feathers??), but I'll let that pass out of pure relief from the lack of neon boxers this time. Good work, SM.
Yay, applause.
There is something I cannot and will not let slide though, and unfortunately said annoyance is Siwon yet again. Where do I even start? First of all, I see you managed to save one of the hats from Perfection. While I applaud your 3R efforts, I think I would have preferred you left it out altogether. Also, I'm pretty sure the cost of that Elvis Presley do could have afforded you a new, better-looking hat. That along with your contacts have succeeded in totally creeping me out. I mean, he looks possessed. I kid you not, he even has that unfocused, glassy stare of someone being possessed.
Keep calm. He can smell fear.
Lol. Brilliant.
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