A Black Umbrella

I stand outside the perimeter of the café area.

Swarms of readers, browsers,

self-proclaimed writers (myself included), barely published writers,

college students, socialites, Manhattanites, and double espresso drinkers

seated on the wooden benches and leather wrapped chairs.

I pretend to be looking at the books on the stand,

but consistently peek at the seating area

from my peripheral vision

hoping for a table to free up for myself and my best friend.

I see a couple by the door begin to stir.

They take their sweet time

packing their bags.

The woman puts her books and materials in her bag

paper by paper.

But I must give them patience.

After all, they had claim to the seats first

and it is still their seats until they officially leave

the close proximity of the area, which is stated by social conduct.

When they get up, they just take their bags

and walk out the door.

I glare as I walk towards the table

that is still littered with their porcelain teacups and coasters,

stirrers, wrappers, and napkins.

Last I checked, this café was only employed with cashiers and cooks,

no busboys.

I begrudgingly pick up their mess.

I toss the disposable products in the trash.

I set the porcelain cups and coasters into the plastic bin in the sink.

I sit down in my leather seat

as my friend takes her seat across from me on the bench.

We take out our laptops and books.

We whip out our wallets.

She goes first to order her pot of peppermint tea.

I go up to try an iced latte.

When I return, I take a deep sigh,

trying to forget those inconsiderate humans.

Then I spot, over my friend’s shoulder,

leaning against the steel window frame,

a tall black umbrella.

I smile.

Film Review: Lucy

Firstly, I must admit, this film was not my first choice of what I wanted to watch when I went to the theaters. I went with my friends and we chose Lucy by majority vote. I agreed without any objections because I was interested in a film that starred Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. A science fictional film about what could happen if one woman was able to use more of her brain than most humans was only slightly appealing to me. But once I walked out of the theater, I was so glad to have given this film a chance.

The plot of the film was interwoven very well. It was visually littered with amazing cross-cutting between scenes that were connected and served a purpose of explaining each other. Most of the information that the audience must know as a preset are presented through Freeman’s character, Professor Samuel Norman, as he lectures a college class on the evolution of the brain. His lectures allow the audience to understand what is going on with Lucy as she goes through her painful transformation. As Lucy gets access to more areas of her brain, she is taps into more knowledge and abilities. It makes her more “wise” in a sense. But the process is not all it’s cracked up to be because as she gains knowledge, she must give up emotions as the price. Her character really explores the theories of what makes people “human” and the limits of mankind’s quest for knowledge. The film starts off with mentions of “Lucy,” the world’s first known human ancestor. It later becomes significant when Lucy meets “Lucy” and everyone has a type of understanding of what passes between the two.

Lucy’s character makes us question whether we would prefer to be the old Lucy, who freaks out over the possibility of being killed, or the new Lucy, who has the world in the palm of her hands but is unable to truly experience life. Even when she kisses Captain Del Rio, it is not a romantic kiss, but more of a kiss to try to keep at least one vision of her former humanity within her sights. I give much props to Johansson for being able to act out so emotionally with desperation at the first part of the film, and then become a woman who unwaveringly wears a blank face for the rest of the film.

Choi Min Sik plays a wonderful antagonist as, Mr. Jang, the leader of a Korean drug ring positioned in Taiwan. Mr. Jang is the opposite of Lucy, where he already has all the power from the start of the film. But his power is more violent and he lets it get to his head to the point that he becomes egotistical and a bit careless. His egotism is exemplified by the fact that, as a drug lord who deals internationally, he doesn’t even bother to learn any language other than his native Korean. He simply trusts his translator, who isn’t even physically present in the film. By having a foreign antagonist, it shows a conflict that also has a political aspect to it, which builds up into a big shootout.

Visually, the film was amazing. The shots of nature slipped in between Professor Norman’s lecture gave a feel of the film being more natural and grounded to reality rather than it being a science fictional setting with completely new laws of science. The special effects graphics were very sharp, distinctive, and appealing to the audience, but only used when necessary. It did not distract the audience from the plot and acting. I really loved the scene when Lucy looks at a tree and we could see what she was seeing, which was the life force of the tree portrayed by electromagnetic threads connecting to each other.

I will not go into too many details about the final scenes to prevent spoilers. But this is certainly a film I recommend everyone to watch. Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman truly don’t pick bad films to act in, or at least not together anyways. It is exciting and visually stimulating with philosophical ideas presented that will keep you pondering even after you leave the theater.

Sacrifice

To see the scars

that have replaced my wings

is worthier than seeing scars

replace their smiles.

Loss becomes endless rivers on my cheeks,

torrents in my heart.

But if they smile,

the ashes of my pain wash away

along with the sea foam drawn into the currents.

Then I drown into my peace.

Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2 (SPOILER ALERT)

Firstly, for those who came here just for the spoiler, here it is. Stoic dies. Now, let’s move on to those who came here for the actual review of the film.

I went to watch this film a bit late, but it was still doing well enough in the box office to stay in theaters. I have wanted to watch this film ever since I saw the first one. This sequel really does well in the continuation of the storyline as well as on many other levels.

This sequel takes place years after the first movie to show how the young main characters have grown up since the previous incidents. It allows for the audience to see the changes in the society of Vikings, especially with the opening scene of dragon games and everyone being well adapted to having their own dragons. It is noticeably different from the ending of the first film where Vikings were just slowly adapting to incorporating dragons into their society after the time it took for Hiccup to wake up after the battle where he lost one of his legs. This time we see a stronger connection between the dragons and the Vikings, which comes into play throughout the film.

The introduction of the problem of Hiccup being in consideration to become the next chief is presented and dropped for a while throughout the film. But that drop does well because later on, Hiccup explains how it was something that has been on his mind throughout the entire time. The opportunity of being chief becomes a conflict with him against his father’s ideas as well as a conflict within himself. Because although Hiccup has grown up, it presents the question of if he has truly matured with age.  When his father dies in battle, it really forces Hiccup to step up and become the last hope as a leader. But rather than only as a societal force, he is also forced to take a look at himself and see what kind of chief he wants to be. As much as I cried, Stoic’s death was necessary for this part. By him no longer being around, it allows Hiccup to not have the pressure of his father’s ideas and image constantly over his head so that Hiccup can guide himself to become his own kind of chief, that is different from his father’s legacy.

With the introduction of Hiccup’s mother, Valka, she answers a lot of questions left behind by the previous movie. The first question was what had happened to Hiccup’s mother. In this film we hear her narration and flashbacks of what had happened on the night she was separated from her family as well as her explanation as to why she never returned. It all makes for a nice wrap up of all the questions about her past, but they were pretty reasonable answers. Any woman and mother in her situation might have felt the same way, given that she came from a village where she was completely alone in her theories of treating the dragons fairly. All in the meanwhile, she was married the Stoic, the greatest dragon slayer in their village. That could not have been easy at all. But by introducing her stance on the dragons, it also explained where Hiccup had naturally gotten his bond with the dragons. Valka and her dragon, Cloudjumper’s, survival after the fight presents an important opening for a possible third film in which they can become mentors for Hiccup and Toothless so that Hiccup can grow to not only be better a leader, but a wiser one as well, considering he has already learned everything about fighting by watching his father but still lacks much knowledge on dragons.

Valka’s role also leads to an expansion of the world of dragons. In the first film, they did a great job of introducing different types of dragons, with the help of Hiccup’s narration and Fishlegs’ nerdy knowledge about dragon statistics. But Valka shows us her own cave of dragons, which also introduces more dragons as well as how dragons work within a clan. We get the dynamic of dragons living like humans, where there is a leader, the pack, and the children all working together with their own roles in their cave environment. Furthermore, her role as having been with the dragons for so many years, allows her to be the bridge to knowing more secrets about the abilities of dragons, which aids Hiccup.

This film is semi-historical, but mostly fantasy based. In the part of the Vikings, they got almost every detail correct, especially the climate. However, in terms of there gear, there was one major part that was historically inaccurate and that was the horned helmet. Vikings, and almost any type of warrior, would never have worn a horned helmet because the horns allow easy access for enemies to grab their helmets by the horns, drag the warrior, and decapitate the head. The helmets that Vikings actually wore were more along the lines of Hiccup’s helmet. Some of the weapons that were presented in the film were obviously fictional, especially Hiccup’s fire emitting sword. But such weapons were understandable to be added into the film because the creators were dealing with a world of people who had pet dragons. Therefore, the Vikings must have researched their own dragons to build weapons and gear around their dragon research and technology.

The tone of the film was very comedic on most parts, with a few scenes that were borderline ridiculous. There were a lot of jokes shared among the characters, such as Astrid making fun of the way Hiccup talks, as well as situations that simply brought laughter through visual gag, such as when Stormfly plays fetch with the sword that Eret constantly tries to get rid of. But there were times where the comedy seemed a bit too much, such as when Ruffnut has her lovey dovey “hallucinations” about Eret, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. But considering how the film’s plot surrounds childhood abandonment, coming of age, discovery of self, war, and death, the comedic tones are very much welcome for the target audience, who are children.

I will refrain from going too much into details of certain other things that happened in the film because I don’t want to just tell the entire film to everyone who have not watched it. Overall, the film was amazing. I especially enjoyed the ending sequence where they showed the artist’s artwork of how the mind and hand had originally imagined the scenery and characters before technology was incorporated. I would definitely recommend this film to be watched. 

Drama Review: From You're Beautiful to Ikemen Desu Ne

Recently I had finished watching the Japanese drama Ikemen Desu Ne, which is an adaptation of the Korean drama You’re Beautiful. There were many things going through my mind as I was watching the drama, so I decided to do a review on this drama. Because I had watched You’re Beautiful a few years ago, and that was my incentive to watch Ikemen Desu Ne, this review will mostly be a review on the drama as an adaptation and not as a stand-alone Japanese drama. Although, I will also include any comments about the drama that I feel I must make a point of.

Firstly, the plot of the drama was very true to the original source material. A girl is about to embark on a mission as a nun. But suddenly she is given a proposition by a stranger to disguise herself as her twin brother, whom she has not seen in years, and join the country’s top boy band in the hopes of gaining attention and finding their mother, whom they have always wanted to meet. Of course complications ensue due to love interests, personal resolves, secrecies, and the social media. Of course, a few subplots were shaved off, especially because this drama is a whopping 5 episodes shorter than the Korean counterpart. Due to the shorter amount of episodes, I felt that the pacing of the plot was also quite rushed, especially within the first half of the drama. Character relationships changed very quickly between hate and like/love. The secrecy of the protagonist, Miko’s, sex was also very quickly put in jeopardy. Whereas, in the Korean drama, they were able to spend more time protecting the secret and putting importance on the keeping of the secret before it was compromised. However, the final few episodes in which they spent more time resolving the main plot and subplots was a well enough salvage of the pacing.

The characters in this drama were essentially as they were in the Korean version. The casting was done very well to have actors who portrayed the images of each character accurately. Ren still had his sharp intimidation, but room for a kind and vulnerable side of him. Shu was the epitome of the modern white knight. Yuki was still the blonde comical brother figure. Although they removed the “foreign prince” aspect of his character in the adaptation process, I do agree it was not an absolute necessity for his character’s essence. Nana is still the epitome of the two-faced spoiled bitch audiences love to hate. In terms of the secondary characters, almost all were very much kept as they were. Only the President of A*N.Jell had some change in his character by showing more of his close relationship to the group he spent so much effort in raising. The President in Ikemen Desu Ne shows how much attention he pays to the group members as his boys and not just as public figures. It was very well exemplified when he was able to instinctively know that something wrong was going on with Ren and Nana’s relationship and Shu and Miko’s relationship. He also becomes especially attached to Miko and even tries to show her support without putting pressure on her in the final episode. The fans of A*N.Jell had less of an emphasis in the Japanese drama, perhaps due to difference in fandoms of each culture. I am not all too familiar with how Japanese fandom of idols work, but I do know that fandom of idols is a huge deal in Korea, to the point where fans become very protective or obsessive over their idols. (If anyone has any insight into Japanese idol fandoms, please feel free to enlighten me.) The trade reporter(s) role was also expanded in the adaptation from a single character to three look-alike characters. Again, that may be attributed to difference in cultures of how reporters operate in each country. The character of the aunt in the Japanese drama was given more depth to her as well. At first, I thought she would be stick to the role of the superficial aunt who “technically” does no wrong other than wanting to do anything she can to get herself out of poverty. But when she finally becomes of use to Miko in the final episodes, it is like a redemption for her character. One character addition that I thought was especially interesting and worthy of taking note is Nana’s stylist, Toru. He works as an extension to both Nana and Yuki by commenting on his observations of what both of them should do in order to liberate themselves of their own restraints. In his linkage to Yuki, he serves as the external voice that states that Yuki might be gay. That turns Yuki’s fears from being pure internal paranoia into a fear that might have some credibility simply because another character is able to notice. Toru’s relationship with Nana at first doesn’t seem to be anything important. But if you pay close attention to the lines he speaks to Nana, you would notice that he voices a lot of Nana’s conscience that tells Nana to make a turn for the better. In his final interaction with Nana, his importance to Nana really hit me when he became the last person to stay by Nana’s side and believe that she can become more than just a “lying fairy.” It made me realize that he is the only person who can actually tolerate her and made me even want to know more of a back story to him as to why he would put up with her.

Now, as of any drama, the fluff of it is in the love lines. Firstly, the love line between Mabuchi and Rina is completely obliterated, though understandingly because in the Korean version their love line was only given attention for about 2 episodes and did not promote the main plot in any way. The love lines between Ren and Miko, Shu and Miko, Yuki and Miko, Ren and Nana ran roughly the same course. However, in the final episode a few changes were added. Miko was given more incentive to keep her distance from Ren because of his mother’s history with her mother, which created much more depth and complication in their relationship than in the Korean drama, which I enjoyed very much. Nana and Ren’s relationship also ended much better in this drama because rather than have Nana’s character later fall in love with the real Mio, she resolves to simply let Ren go, which was a healthier conclusion that put more focus on her growth as an individual character. Many of the iconic locations that embodied the love lines also remained. Yuki still had his bus that went one round within a long period of time. Shu still had his near moment of reveal in a fashion district and the private moment with Miko at Okinawa in that enclosed glass area. Ren gets his moments on the mountain and the concert.

There are many more similarities and differences between these two renditions. But I will close off here and let you all watch it for yourself and find the similarities and differences for yourselves.

Let It Snow

Snow snow,

Let it snow away.

A blanket of white to lull me to sleep.

Touch my skin,

Preserve my cells,

But only until you fades.

Goddess and God,

Do not worry for my pain.

I no longer feel a thing.

Let the frozen tears cover

And wash away my body’s tears.

Scatter salt upon the snow.

My wounds will scar anyways.

Snow snow,

May it snow,

It will be the last that will touch me.

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Today is the first day of the Spring semester. It is also 182 years since the birth of my favorite author and poet, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). In commemoration of him and in hopes of a wonderful semester of educational improvement and self improvement, I will share one of my favorite poems written by him, Jabberwocky.

I have always loved this poem for its narrative technique, it's fun tone, and it's creation of strange characters, such as the Jabberwock and Bandersnatch. One of the most common misconceptions of this poem is that Jabberwocky is simply the name of the poem, but the actual creature is named Jabberwock.

Jabberwocky

  by Lewis Carroll

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
   Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son 
   The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun 
   The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand; 
   Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree, 
   And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood, 
   The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, 
   And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through 
   The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head 
   He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 
   Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" 
   He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
   Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
   And the mome raths outgrabe.

Because I'm A Girl

I will make one thing clear to my readers; I am a feminist. By feminist, I believe more of the social equality than the political ones. The politics are too messy for me to get into in this post, considering the whole equal pay, drafting, maternity leave stuff. Maybe I will clarify my opinion on those in another post in the future. But right now, I want to write an entry on my stance on social equality of the sexes. My belief in social equality of the sexes stem from my mom being an outright sexist. She constantly forces me to do favor for her by using the excuse that I am a “girl” and that girls are supposed to do certain things for their mothers and family. Meanwhile, I use my mind’s eye to look into the other room at my brother who is just sitting in his bed all day playing games on his computer (and I do say all those things literally). In my mind, so many thoughts are racing and making me want to scream at my mom. Now this is the part where I sound like an ungrateful daughter, but I so long to ask her to explain to me why it is that those chores or favors she needs me to do require my female sex organs. However, I must refrain myself from doing such because I am respectful enough not to retaliate such harsh words at my mother and I do not speak Chinese well enough to be able to translate that for my mother.

Ever since my Woman’s Gender Studies class at Hunter College, it made me question my mom’s unfair mentality even further. Why is it that even though I am studying a double major in Film Studies and English, am maintaining a 3.7 GPA, have been on the Dean’s List at both Hunter College and Queens College ever since I enrolled in college, graduated high school with a Regents Honors diploma, and have worked at 3 jobs so not to need to ask my parents for money ever since high school senior year, am I still expected to devote so much time and effort to my mother’s expectations of me as a “dutiful daughter”? Meanwhile, my brother didn’t do so well in high school, graduated Hunter College without a ceremony, and have never held a job, is not expected anything in terms of family responsibilities. It just really irks me how society treats men and women so unequally.

But it’s not only the old generation that do this. Even in the modern generation that seek to equalize the rights of men and women, there are still sexist expectations. Women still complain about having to be subservient to men, meanwhile they expect men to pay for dates and to hold the doors for them. My stance is that if women want equality, they have to accept the bad with the good, just like everything else in this world.

Fun Fact: The Equal Rights Amendment was not adopted to the United States Constitution because many women feared losing the legal protection of the law that guarantees them custodial rights of children in the cases of divorce and exemption from military drafts.

Lisa’s Top 13 Korean Music Videos of 2013

For my first blog and first music critique, I am going to start off the New Year by reflecting back on the past year. This idea was given to me by my friend Jenny when she had also come across many bloggers and video bloggers online counting off their list of top K-Pop music of 2013. So I am going to give my opinion on my Top 13 in a blog form, since I am not as well-composed in speech. I also chose Top 13 instead of the usual Top 10 in homage to the year 2013. Even with the number 13, it was extremely difficult to narrow down so many amazing videos released this year. I was so tempted to turn this into a Top 50 list multiple times.  Anyways, here is my list and I have comprised them out of Korean Music Videos released in 2013. I am doing a list of music videos because I wish to discuss the music’s lyrics and composition as well as the videos’ concepts and visuals. Of course this will be a bit biased because I am only including a list of videos I have seen and some are here because of my personal preferences. But I will try my best to give just reasoning for all my rankings. Now, without further ado, here is…

Lisa’s Top 13 Korean Music Videos of 2013
 

13.Miss $’s You Were Not The… ft. Verbal Jint

            Much like Younha’s The Real Reason We Broke Up, this video takes on a concept of a breakup. The twist to this video is that the camera is set on a body-cam to give the perspective of the man who is being dumped, yet the song’s lyrics is sung from the perspective of the ladies. The members of the group also sing the lyrics of the song as they play roles of women the guy encounters within the few minutes it takes for him to wait for his girlfriend and get dumped by her. The film is done with one shot, but the composition of the shots is brilliant, especially the flipping of the records with lyrics on the covers. I also especially loved the concept presented in the lyrics because it shows a side of breakups where girls don’t dump the guy just out of falling out of love but rather that the strain of a relationship is too hard.

12. Ladies’ Code’s Hate You

            This music video was one of my personal favorites this year, mostly because I have a fascination with creepy porcelain dolls. The lyrics of this song are really identifiable with listeners because we all have that one person or situation we can recall of a love hate relationship where we absolutely hate someone, but still can’t help but feel an attachment of love to them. The song’s composition is also very catchy and undertones of instruments that emphasize the creepiness in the tones that the girls are aiming for. The video is choc full of symbolism for female possession by men. What really catches me and brings laughter to me is the use of the theory of karma in this video. The girls are each seen playing with dolls in ways that torture the dolls, but it then cuts to the girls feeling the consequences. Although I am not a fan of Ladies’ Code, I just absolutely loved this concept they tried out, which was a good break from their overdone cutesy concept that is too often seen by K-Pop girl groups.

11. BAP’s One Shot

            Although this is a song that has faded in my interest after a few months, I still consider it to be one of the best videos released this year. This is one of the few story music videos I consider to be successful for BAP. The style sticks to their group concept of being very dark and masculine. The video shows the boys in their usual dark outfits and puts them in underground scenes, such as warehouses and train stations. The storyline is quite simple; a group of guys going to rob a van transporting bank money and uses that money as ransom money for their friend who was captured by a rival gang. The one small critique I have with the storyline is that they stole a bunch of hundred dollar bills. But the video was obviously shot in the Philippines because you see the streets and transportation system. So unless the rival gang plans on exchanging all of those dollars into peso (and risk getting caught) or they plan on attempting to smuggle all that money out of the country (which is highly impossible), it’s a bit unrealistic. The ending was the biggest WTF moment because it has two alternative endings. The first is that the rival gang shot the hostage and the two groups have a massive gun fight, which results in all deaths. But then Matoki (BAP’s bunny mascot) somehow reverses time and gives an alternate ending where the hostage was actually working with the police to crack down on both gangs. I personally think the first ending was at least more honorable. The second one was just messed up and such a betrayal among brothers. But overall, the song was very catchy and absolutely follows along with the style that first made me fall in love with them since their debut as a boy group who sticks to the hardcore masculine image and is more heavy on the hip hop style and dance. The dance was also amazing, as usual, with more highlights in Zelo’s improvement.

10. Sunny Hill’s Darling of All Hearts

            This is one of my most addictive songs. I usually love Sunny Hill for their more creepy concepts. At first the cutesy image was a bit difficult for me to take in. But once I got over that, I found it to be very charming. I also relate a lot to the lyrics of this song of being the girl everyone goes to for relationship advice, yet I’m never in a relationship myself. But it’s also a very uplifting song because it gives uplifting advice that even if single people feel lonely; being single has its perks. I also really love that they feature Hareem, who is known for his collection of rare instruments. The music is extremely cute and addicting and the dance goes along with it extremely well to give a lively feel to it. I always love listening to this song whenever I feel down and need cheering up.

9. Lim Kim’s Goodbye 20

            Kim Ye Rim makes another solo comeback this year with Goodbye 20 as a signal of adulthood. Contrary to this song, she is actually going to become 20 years old in 2014, which is the Korean age of coming of age, it being especially important for girls. The song is a cute pop song geared towards reminiscing the fun teenage years and embracing the crappy responsibilities of adulthood, such as jobs and paying for your own things. It also deals with the reality of going through the twentieth year where you expect so much excitement, but it falls short of expectations because you are still treated like a child by society, yet must deal with the legal responsibilities of an adult. The video itself is extremely cute with Lim acting so cute in colorful scenes and surrounding herself with blue balloons, teddy bear costumes, and photo sticker scenes and trying to act like a teen, but falling short in the enjoyment of such wacky activities. It is a song that all adults can find appeal in and certainly reminds me of my coming of age.

8. Sistar’s Give It To Me

            Sistar makes another sexy comeback that continues on their roll of incorporating their smooth and powerful vocals paired with sexy outfits and sets. The song is straight up K-Pop with catchy beats and chorus. The dance choreography is also sexy, yet simple. What I particularly loved about this comeback was its use of props in the dances. As a dancer, I think props are very fun. I loved the short tango with the male partner, the top hat and cane, the hoop, and the glitter. There is not much for me to criticize about this video, but I put it as one of my tops because its addictiveness and dance made it one of my most listened to and watched songs of this year.

7. Younha’s The Real Reason We Broke Up

            I have always known Younha to be an amazing singer, but I admit that this song made me absolutely fall in love with its style. The song is more of a pop ballad as compared to her usual ballad style. The acoustic guitar in the background is very soft and complementary to her beautiful and smooth voice. I also feel like the lyrics are exactly what a girl goes through when she recently goes through a breakup and Younha sung the lyrics with perfect emotion. She really portrays the pains and fears of a breakup with both the heart’s emotions and the mind’s logic. What I love most about this video when I saw it was that it incorporates interpretive dances to relate the emotions of the lyrics. Being a ballet dancer myself, I especially loved two scenes of when Younha and the male actor have short moments of glimpsing at each other. The first is at the empty movie theater when glimpse at each other without the other noticing their attention and watching the dancers dance out their former relationship on the stage. The other is when they finally look at each other across rooftops and you would not be able to know their inner emotions if not for the dancers around them. It is not an amazing video, but it is one of my favorite pop ballads of the year.

6. Block B’s Very Good

            After so much that this group has gone through, Block B continues on the path with their K-Pop videos that keep up their image of wild young boys who love to have fun being rebels. This time around, their video is much more artistic. The song is still their usual addictive style with repetitive catch phrases that are stated in the title. But the video contains a lot of very fun scenes for each member, from being chased by a ferocious hound, to having a head juxtaposed on a dining table plate, to being beaten up by a woman boxer with huge breasts. And to wrap it all up, they are dressed up in Joker-esque masks to rob a bank. It is one of the most fun videos I’ve seen this year.

5. IU’s The Red Shoes

            IU releases yet another long and whimsical story music video. This time, she tackles a concept derived from the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. It sticks only to the main idea of the shoes forcing her to dance. Everything else is altered to fit the plot of a girl who jumped out of an old black and white film and winds up spending an amazing summer with a guy and his eclectic friends. This video featured many famous Korean musicians as cameos. The visual style and music is very retro, along with the other tracks in this album. I also applaud IU for finally attempting somewhat difficult dance choreography for this comeback. The dance and outfit style this time also highlights her maturing image and I hope she continues along this path.

4. Brown Eyed Girls’ Kill Bill

            Unlike their usual videos, Brown Eyed Girls did not go with just another thematic concept. This time they did a music video in reference to the American film under the same title. Each of the girls takes on a loose adaptive role of different characters. I do not know much of the original Kill Bill films, so I cannot critique it on its accuracy of adaptation. But I do know that unlike the film plot, the plot of this music video seems to be that all of the girls are fighting over Bill, but also to get revenge on attacks they each previously made against each other. The music is very upbeat and adds an almost amusing quality to the video, especially with the signature whistling. The dance is very much by the style of Brown Eyed Girls in making it sexy on many levels. Jea continues on with her classy sexiness. Miryo is still the tough girl with a seductive appeal. Narsha continues pushing the experiments she plays with other women. And Gain is still the group’s image of female sexuality, even though she is the youngest. Brown Eyed Girls is one of my favorite groups for always rolling out songs that are sexy with class.

3. 2NE1’s Missing You

            Being a Blackjack (2NE1 fan) myself, of course one of their 3 videos released this year would end up on this list. I chose Missing you because although the other two videos were really fun and cute, this video just really reminded me of how artistic their style can be, just like Lonely and Ugly. The lyrics really speak a message about the loneliness of missing someone, and it does not even have to be a lover, it could be anyone held dear in the heart. The background music is also very soft and subtle to emphasize the emotional power in their voices to give it a simple allure. There is so much artistic beauty in this video, from the outfit choices, to the lighting, and the simple, yet hauntingly beautiful scenery. It is one of those videos that I cannot explain all its complex beauty in just a short review. But one of the most empowering parts I feel I must point out is CL’s sequence of nude scenes. Many people have been critiquing that scene on many different aspects, whether it be love, hate, or indifference. For me, I absolutely loved it because it furthered her fierce leadership qualities and it shows a new level of maturity she and the group are going through. In this video she is able to embrace the nudity as an artistic symbol of feeling stripped of all coverage and emotions and being at the greatest point of vulnerability. It is definitely a video I would call a moving painting.

2. Lee Hyori’s Bad Girls

            The Queen of Kpop’s return to the music scene this year with a full album and three music videos was one of the biggest highlights of the year. My personal favorite was Bad Girls because it was just so powerful and true to her style of being sexy in a classy and feminist way. The main concept of the song is for girls to embrace their bad girl side and not care about whether people like them or not because even the bad girls have more allure than the good girls and they certainly have more fun. But the term “bad” is not used to tell girls to just act bad with no reason, but to be bad in a way that is breaking the rules and going against the people in our lives who try to put us down or take advantage of us by abusing their privileges. The video exemplifies that theme with bright comic strip-like scenes of Lee Hyori’s character growing up as a girl and always being “bad” by fighting against bullies, playing pranks on a pedophilia teacher and a teacher who doesn’t even teach class because of tenure. This was one of my most listened to songs this year, especially with its addicting chorus. It’s definitely a video for all the rebels in the world.

1. MFBTY’s The Cure

            This video is the main reason why I titled this list Korean Music Videos. MFBTY is a collaboration of three of the biggest Korean Hip Hop artists. It consists of the King (Drunk Tiger JK) and the Queen (Yoon Mi Rae) of Korean Hip Hop, who are also husband and wife, and their long time friend Bizzy. They make a powerful trio and each time they drop a track or video, it is chock full of their experiences of composing music and producing videos with styles that are true to their roots in old-style hip hop. There is so much I can say in praise of this group, but let’s move on to the music video. This song is for the title song in Tiger JK’s new album, The Cure. The song’s tempo is more on the mellow side as compared to usual Hip Hop music. The lyrics are reflective of all the harsh experiences they have been through in their lives. They are lyrics that everyone can relate to; feeling alone, yet trying to find hope. You can understand the gist of the song by just listening to Yoon Mi Rae’s English chorus. On top of the wonderfully composed lyrics, the video is even more amazing because it allows you to watch the singers act out their feelings with so many symbolic scenes and caricatures that are literally drawn in and so adorable to see. For anyone who enjoys analyzing symbolic cartoons, this is definitely the video for you.

Notary Mentions

            There are a few videos that released this year that were not my personal tops, but I do acknowledge them to have been exceptional videos for certain reasons.

1. Xia Junsu’s 11am

I am not a big fan of ballads nor was this song my type of song. But the video is one that is a must watch with all its simple symbolism. Junsu’s amazingly smooth vocals are perfectly exemplified through this song. The background music doesn’t even need to kick in until more than halfway into the song. It is also shot in one straight shot of him singing among all the tarnished objects around in the empty plain that further gives the feeling of sorrow. It is just such a beautifully simple video and song.

2. Psy’s Gentleman

Psy has become the face of Kpop ever since Gangnam Style. I personally think he is overrated, not because I dislike him, but because he is not the ideal example of K-Pop and his Gangnam Style is perfectly like all his previous music videos I have seen. However, I did particularly love Gentleman because of the Korean pop culture he promotes in this video. Any person who is a true K-Pop fan would recognize all the cameos in this video.  The first obvious one is Brown Eyed Girls’ Gain; whose group had created the Abracadabra dance that is once again highlighted in this song. It also features many Korean stars from the popular variety show Infinite Challenge: HaHa, Noh Hong Chul (Elevator Guy from Gangnam Style), Yoo Jae Suk, Park Myung Su, Jeong Jun Ha, and Jeong Hyung Don (by appearance). There were also many famous scenes of Korea both public and media-wise, such as the spring chairs at the pool (featured on Running Man). I loved this video because I felt like I wanted to put footnotes all over it.

3. So Nyuh Shi Dae’s I Got A Boy

Being a SONE, I so wanted to put this video on my list of top videos this year. However, since this is more of a critical review, I must admit that this is not such an amazing video. Though I will mention it as a video deserving of notice since it did win YouTube’s Video of the Year award. Personally, I felt like the song was very inconsistent in the sound and it takes a while to get used to it. But I do love that the girls are trying to go back to their debut days when they actually did more active dancing in their songs.

4. EXO’s Growl

EXO’s Growl is not a video that is exemplary of their style or even amazing in its composition. But I did appreciate this video because it shows how much the boys all practiced the choreography to be able to film it all in one shot. I also loved the choreography because it was like a mirror dance between EXO K and M, which is a really fresh style of dancing as compared to the typical dance formations.

5. VIXX’s Voodoo Doll

This video actually flew over my radar until my friend Jenny became obsessed with it and forced me to watch it. The song and concepts are not exceptional. However, I do appreciate VIXX’s attempts to push the limits of what is acceptable in terms of gore in the K-Pop industry. It was especially shocking for a rookie boy group to attempt at it on stage with suggestions of being stabbed through with a large needle pin in the chest in their choreography. But this song finally won them their first music program award and got them more notice. So I applaud them for having so much guts (no pun intended).

            So concludes my first Korean Music Video review and my first review in general. I did not expect it to turn out so long. I hope you all enjoyed this review and feel free to comment with your own opinions. I am very open-minded to reasonable debates.