U-Kiss Alone Review

Why should Japanese songs be left out?  They're still sung by Korean bands!  Disclaimer:  If anyone actually thinks that I may own Ukiss, or Alone, or anything having to do with them, I've got a 500 year old cell phone to sell you.  It was way before its time and is unique.  Step on up.

This is the most eligible song ever for the intro to a robot/tech anime.

I'm so sorry about the quality.  I know it's not very good, but I couldn't find anything better.  Oh, I tried.

Yeah, right around the 40 second mark, I was transported to Gundam Wing.  At first I didn't like it very much. I didn't think it was consistent with Ukiss's other songs.  But then I listened to it again, and viola!  I liked it.  More than that, I really liked it!

Except for the hat.  Everyone knows which hat I'm talking about, right?
 
 Yeah, this ridiculous Russian fur hat with the huge gold brooches super glued on by a 10 year old.  And then, because the kid did such a good job, they gave him a glove and a bunch of square gold studs.  Sigh.  No Kevin.  Just no.

I did really like their military-esque costumes though!    The group has always impressed me with how close they seem as friends so the uniforms just solidified their 'groupness' to me.  This is me totally ignoring the member trade that happened a couple years ago, by the way.  They're a sold group, I tell you!

Ok, what is the song about, you may be asking?  No clue.  I don't know what it is about Japanese songs, but either our languages are so different that it's not possible to accurately translate, or the Japanese just really like esoteric, almost makes sense, but not really songs. And this translates well into their music video because there is no plot.  It's all dancing.  I really like UKiss' dance skills so I'm not disappointed or anything, but when you have a song you just are not grasping the meaning of, it would be nice to have some clues in the music video.  No matter!  It's not like I listen to music in languages I don't speak for the deep meanings!

LOL!

Ok, I don't follow bands so closely as to know all their affiliations, but how U-Kiss get to use the same room TVXQ used?  Did UKiss not film their Japanese song in Japan?  Or did they bring the set?  I don't know.  But it was a nice little throw back for me because I really liked Keep your Head Down.  I kept waiting for the fire hall to make an appearance, but apparently they only took the sharing so far.  And you know what?  The dark room with light holes made just as much sense in this video as TVXQ's! (None, just in case you didn't get that)

I really enjoyed the English.  A catchy beat AND plenty of English??  This is why I love you UKiss!  

I've found that with this band, I either love their songs or hate them.  Not much middle ground.  And this one, this one had to grow on me, but I love it now!  Thank you U-Kiss and Japan.  A wonderful combination and addition to Tick Tack, my other fav Japanese Ukiss song.

BTOB's WOW Review

Disclaimer:  I do not own BTOB, but boy do I wish I did!  I am in no way officially associated with anything the band does or produces, but I'd volunteer to be in their music videos in a heartbeat.

I know this is not a new song anymore.  It's pretty old, in kpop song time, but I love Wow so much that I couldn't go on without writing about it.  It just has one of those beats, you know?  Enjoy...

Aw, so much to say and such short attention spans from the average blog reader!  First thing I'm going to say is how much I appreciate that the woman in the video has more make-up on than the guys!  As normal is that is in the west, it's just not a given in Korean music videos, so alright BTOB!

For the mass majority of the video, I adored their costumes.  Only the white ones had any really cringe-worthy elements.

I am, of course, referring to the socks.  Even BTOB can't pull a sock over a pant leg and make it look good.   Oh no, no no.  

I loved the dancing in this video!  I liked the very beginning when the middle three are all but chasing the camera.  "Pay attention to us!"  I liked the part where they were admiring the woman's S-curve, demonstrating by showing their bums!

 

But my favorite was just how much energy and enthusiasm they had.  You have to imagine they've practiced this dance hundreds of times but they don't look bored, like they're just going through the motions.  I know I don't look that happy at work, doing the same thing I did yesterday, and the day before that, and will be doing again tomorrow!  Even in their dance practice!  This is a composite of at least three dance practices and yet, look how enthusiastic they are!  Not in front of an audience, just practicing, they are energetic and fresh, and I find this amazing.

Also, I really enjoyed how the beginning of the song starts off in the regular, well choreographed dance routine and then slowly deteriorates into a skillfully controlled chaos of individual moves and sequences.  There was always so much to look at.  Plus, when everyone is doing their own thing, it gives unskilled people like me the feeling that we could jump in in the back somewhere and totally fit in.  It's easy to picture dancing with BtoB and instead of getting security called on us, getting high-fives at the end.

As for the plot of the video, as each boy falls for the girl, falling irrevocably in love (I like to think), he disappears.  She doesn't return the feelings of any them until the last, where she is the one to disappear instead of him.  His name?  Um, no idea.  But he's a cutie!  So in the dance of seduction, the score is Girl-6, Boys-1.  I especially liked the cherry and tie scenes.  The girl running her foot up the inside of guy's leg was the most sexually explicit play I've seen between sexes in a kpop video!  So that was new.

The song was about a guy seeing a girl in a class above other girls.  He freely admires the different parts of her body and imagines doing nice for her.  Unfortunately, the song is not as original as the music video, but hey, as a non-korean speaker, the words don't bother me one little bit.  I can imagine them singing something amazing as I shake my groove thing to WOW.