Review: Girl's Day - Female President

Music Video
The music video was a lot of fun and since the it was called Female President, the speech podium and meeting room was an awesome addition.

Pictured: The board meeting of every guy's dreams.

I especially loved the girl-guy(girl?) interaction between Minah and Hyeri. I thought it was hilarious the way Minah acted all coy and flustered around the guy she liked who unfortunately, was not who he appears to be. (*Spoiler Alert* Dude's a girl.)

But I'm kind of sensing a back story here. In 2.02 - 2.11, you see Hyeri opening doors for Minah and holding up an umbrella for her, no doubt to protect her from the harsh glare of indoor lighting.

Wait, why is he(she?) wearing heels?

From what I can see there, Minah is the big-shot female president, while Hyeri acts more like an escort than anything else. That means that Minah is scandalously involved with her bodyguard! Who is actually a girl! But wait, who's that other girl hanging suspiciously around Minah's car?

She is probably Minah's love rival. That would explain why she's hanging around the carpark which is totally not stalker-like at all, waiting for Hyeri to finish her work. And since all of them are seen in the same meeting room, I think it's safe to assume that all of them work in the same company as well.

So to recap: Both Minah and one of her employees are in love with Minah's bodyguard-slash-driver, who is in fact a girl dressed up in drag. I think I just introduced the setting for every soap opera ever.

And the plot thickens...

Song and Lyrics
You know they say that honesty is the best policy, and I feel that I need to be brutally honest here. This has to be one of the most offensive songs I've heard in a long time.

I think it's really great that Korea has it's first female president. However, I don't think that this is the right song to represent that. I'm not Korean, so I'm saying this more from a female's perspective, but I doubt the president would appreciate her accomplishments to be compared to something as inconsequential as confessing to a guy. If you were president of a nation developing at a lightning-quick pace with a neighboring country constantly threatening to blow your ass sky high, would you consider that kind of pressure to be as daunting as telling a guy that he's cute? I don't think so.

Maybe it's my problem. After all, I don't get what the big deal is about girls confessing to guys. And girls, I don't even know why you would want to. Just let the guys do all the hard work. But this song doesn't empower women the way it thinks it does. Honestly, I find it pretty demeaning.

The real shame is that this is actually an awesome song. It was upbeat, the hook was great and they have some crazy vocals. I would have loved it if not for the lyrics. Now I just feel like someone made me a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich with an epic FU written on it in mustard.

And gave you the finger while you were eating it.

Dance
When it comes to the choreography, I'm torn. Some parts I actually did like, such as the part where they clapped along the beat during the chorus. At least it wasn't as cheesy as when 2PM did it. Shudder~~ And the salute part was very cool.

But then they had to ruin it all with the butt dance. When did it become acceptable to shake your butts in a recording camera that would ultimately replay it in front of other people? So you're shaking your butts into other people's faces. And considering that the shorts they were wearing barely covers their behinds, it makes the whole routine really awkward to watch.

Some netizens argued that it was the awkward camera angle that made it look trashier than it really was and I totally agree. I do think the cameraman did a pretty botch job of focusing on that particular area. But on the other hand, one can argue that there isn't really a good angle to shoot a dance that involves this much butt wagging.

Not this angle.

Not this.

NOPE.

Fashion
Today I'm going to give everyone a lesson on Kpop fashion, with a little help from the girls of Girl's Day. In the MV, you may have noticed the girls wearing a type of high-waist short shorts. The high waist is meant to create the illusion of a shorter waist, while the non-existent length at the bottom accentuates the length of the girls' legs. Both these aspects combine to make their legs look longer than they already are.

Now, I feel that I don't have to get into the whole Classy vs Trashy topic again. I think their pants are too short. you can almost see their underwear peeking out. That alone should suffice. Although I did recently read an article about 'The Ten Hottest Moments in Girl's Day's President MV', where the blogger proudly announced that they were bringing the 'Diaper Fashion' back (Her words, not mine). Now, I'm pretty sure she meant it as a compliment. Unfortunately, I can no longer look at those dia-, er, shorts the same way again.

Anyway, I want to apologize if this blog seems harsh to any Girl's Day's fans out there. I'm a a bit of feminist and it especially irks me when girls won't stand up for their own gender. Or worse, they degrade them whilst under the impression that they are doing a favor for females everywhere. So yes, the rant happened. I hope there were no hard feelings. Peace out.

Review: EXO - Wolf

I realize that this song is a tad outdated. I would have reviewed it a lot earlier had it not been for my frantic last-minute flipping through exam notes during the whole of last month.

Music Video
I've been meaning to write this for ages, but I kept putting it off because I heard that they were going to release a drama version of the MV. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And nada. Zilch. Where is the drama version, huh?? I was promised a Wolf drama MV!!! Not to mention I've been hearing all these rumors about the company not releasing it because fangirls threw a pigue after seeing one of the boys kiss a girl in the MV. I saw the teaser, it was a peck on the cheek. It barely lasted three seconds. Don't get your knickers in a twist.

Yawn~~

Okay, for those who might not know, EXO is split into EXO-K and EXO-M, which put together forms a Kpop group so big that I still don't know who is who yet. In fact, I only know one name, Kai, who is the magnae (I think), although I have no idea which one he is. Therefore, I have assigned nicknames for all twelve of them. Hope no one minds.

For example, this is Taeyang Jr.

This is mainly a dance video so I won't go into it much, but I've got to bring up that whole werewolf thing they had going on. When I first watched the MV, I thought it was pretty tacky. Sorry. But after watching their live performances, I realized that it was actually a good thing that it was added because it made the MV look more impressive. I'm not saying that their live performance sucked, just that the werewolf thing made a much more powerful impact. It had that Oomph! factor, even though it was a tribute to the worst movie ever.

Hey, if the wolf is Jacob, does that mean the other dude is Edward?

Song and Lyrics
From what I managed to find out about the song was that it involved all twelve members of EXO, it had a Korean version and a Mandarin version, and the distribution of the lyrics were different for both version of the song. This is a pretty smart move because it means that you can promote the song without worrying about the language barrier, and EXO members don't have to memorize their lyrics in both languages.

The historical-ish Japanese-sounding instrumental at the beginning of the song was so ethereal and mystical and lovely. And that was about the only thing I liked about the song. Sorry again. To be fair though, the vocal line did a really great job. One of them even sounds like Changmin from TVXQ. So they probably would have won me over if they had sang more than, like, three lines each. As for the rapping, which carried the weight of the entire song, it wasn't so much rapping as it was spouting the lyrics with a really intense expression towards the camera. I didn't feel it.

Still, the quality of the song didn't bother me as much as the lyrics itself. Was it just me, or did anyone else notice an underlying PG theme in the lyrics?

Pictured: not suitable for kids.

Call me old-fashioned, and I'm pretty sure many would argue that they are actually singing about being a werewolf and eating up a girl (Still creepy) or falling in love with her or whatever, but I find it just a tad disturbing that boys barely scrapping twenty are singing about smelling in a girl's scent and eating her up like she's a piece of cheese.

That's hot.

Dance
Any doubts I might have had with the song itself definitely did not carry over to their choreography. The dance was amazing. The swaying-tree thing at the beginning made with their bodies was without a doubt the best part. At first I couldn't figure out how two of the members were doing that Smooth-Criminal tilt, and then I realized that they were actually grabbing on for dear life as they leaned away from each other to create a more branched-out feel.

One advantage of having twelve members is that you don't need backup dancers. Having said that, arranging the dance moves for each of them was probably hell. In Super Junior's case, most of the time they have the same movements and their only job is to robotically in-sync. But for this song, the dance had a lot of freestyle but it was done in a deliberate manner so that it didn't look sloppy, but also not over-rehearsed either.

This part is cool.

Even when they had to interact with each other while keeping to their own designated space, they handled it like a boss. From the human tree to the human den to Jacob Black, the dance was awesome.

However, there was one part of the dance that I couldn't help bursting into laughter when I saw it, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be funny. In the chorus when they sang "I'm a wolf.", the members held up both hands to their ears, like, well, a wolf. That was all kinds of weird. To me, making animal-ears with your hands is something that should remain strictly within the realm of bedtime stories when you're trying to scare little kids by pretending to be the Big Bad Wolf.

Although they kind of look like Chihuahuas if you squint.

I take my hat off to you guys. You pulled it off with a straight face.

Showdown
Last but not least, for this showdown, which howl did you prefer? Taeyang Junior in Wolf, or L Joe in Miss Right? Both look like they just saw a hot chick walk down the street.

Review: Henry (SJ-M) - Trap

So...
It's been more than two weeks since my last review...Sigh.

I know my reviews are coming out more and more sparsely but everyone needs to bear with me here because I just finished with Exam Month and I am more than a little frazzled. However, it is now a new month and I am back, baby!!!

Music Video
Henry is one of the few idols known to be skilled with various instruments including the piano, so very smart move SM, opening the first scene with Henry playing the piano. But since we're on that subject, holy-crap-you-did-not-just-step-on-that-absolutely-gorgeous-grand-piano-Henry. Dude, those things cost up to ten grand! And he even sets it on fire at one point. Omg, I think I'm going to cry.

Anyway, this isn't really a typical SM-styled video since it has an actual plot this time. It kind of reminds me of Boa's Disturbance where the girlfriend died and the grieving boyfriend can't accept that she's gone. But in this video, he goes crazy and starts seeing her everywhere. And when he finally realizes that she is actually a figment of his imagination and that he needs some serious therapy for seeing his dead girlfriend everywhere, he flips out and starts trashing the place. Cuz who can afford to see a therapist these days.

"Gahhh!!! I still have to pay for the damn piano!!!"

I suppose it was sort of creative in a everyone-keeps-picking-on-us-because-of-our-weirdly-lit-boxes-so-we're-gonna-take-the-whole-GD-roof-off way to take off the ceiling of Henry's house, but since the song title was Trap, in a way it would be more fitting to have Henry in an enclosed room. In fact, what makes this even hilarious is that when Henry whispers “I’m trapped.”, the camera immediately pans out to show an open door right next to him.

"I'm trapped......Oh wait, I'm not."

On a side note, the video in the beginning wasn't that great because it had that shaky-camera thing that Kpop likes to do so often. I was surprised that it showed up in Henry's video though, since SM is usually impeccable when it comes to video editing. I'll never figure out why editors keep doing that since it makes for really bad video quality. So SM, you should just keep doing what you're doing. There's no need to follow any Kpop video-editing trends.

Lastly, the ending was pretty anti-climatic in my opinion. You see Henry driving around in an anguished daze and then......nothing. Honestly, I kept expecting something to happen, maybe the car flipping over and exploding in an blazing inferno, or maybe his girlfriend creepily appears and tries to strangle him, or something! But no, he just drives around for a while before reaching home safe and sound and setting his piano on fire. If you weren't going to add some tragic moment to it, why would you have that scene in the first place?

SM representative - "Cuz it looks badass. Duhhh."

Song and Lyrics
It goes without saying, I loved the piano part in the beginning. Yay, piano! Although now that I think about it, for the most part he only played about two notes so I don't think I should be that impressed.

As for the song, even though it wasn't the kind of song that stops you in your tracks and makes you want to sing and dance along to it, it was a good attempt for his first solo. So you get a thumbs up for effort.

I think I should address the presence of Taemin and Kyuhyun though. What were they doing there? I though this was supposed to be a Henry solo, not a subunit consisting of Henry, Taemin and Kyuhyun. It would have been different if say, Eunhyuk was featured instead, since many times an idol would be featured to rap for another idol's solo. But instead they get Taemin and Kyuhyun, who are both vocalists, to sing about two lines each out of the whole song. What gives?

Dance
Henry is from Super Junior, which would mean that super awkward dance moves is to be expected. In this case, it's the hand-waving movement at 1.48 minutes which makes all of them look like an 18th century English gal trying to flag down multiple taxis.

But apart from that awkwardly random few seconds, pretty much the rest of the dance was great. During the chorus, the part where Henry crosses both hands over his chest like he was being entrapped was pretty meaningful, since his lines at that exact moment were "I'm trapped.". And the gun-cocking move at 0.55 minutes was awesome. I only wish they could have added some sound effects during that part, considering they even added the sound effects when Taemin did his spin during 2.00 minutes. You think I didn't notice, but I totally did.

EJ Maria, helping out Kpop MVs since 2013.

And of course, the handkerchief tossing part was amazing, especially when they threw it up and caught it as it come down, or when they flung it at the audience. Or even when they draped it over their shoulder and it somehow magically stayed on while they were dancing.

Need I say more?

Fashion
For the most part, Henry wore totally normal outfits, which is pleasantly surprising considering that he is from Super Junior who are known for their affinity for bizarre clothing and neon boxers. Although I'll have to admit, when I saw him in the outfit in 0.32 minutes, I thought he was getting ready for a WWE smackdown with those backup dancers if not for the fact that he was still playing the piano.

"I'll give you a piece of me!! As soon as I finish playing!!!"