Hongbin is the visual, or "artwork", of the boy band VIXX and I thought that it would be appropriate to post this since they are going to have a comeback on Tuesday! Yay!
I made this Hongbin doll as I was pumping dolls out when I was considering making an Etsy account. I knew that I wanted to make a VooDoo era doll because I thought that the clothes were really cool with all the exposed stitching; and as we know, if there is one thing that I like, it detailing that will make me blind.
Unfortunately, you can't see all of it in the picture, but trust me, it's cool looking. Something cool that you can see though is the little voodoo doll that I made for Hongbin. I tried to copy it as much as possible from all the promotional pictures and I think that I did pretty well. He has a little heart and the word VIXX on his arm and everything. I'm pretty proud of it.
I really like this song, like, a lot. It is darker sounding that "Hyde" which I like but it still sounds like VIXX. Sometimes with rookie groups it takes a while for them to really find their sound, but VIXX has always seemed to know what they were going for. Sure, they took a sharp left turn down Doom and Gloom Lane but it still sounds like a VIXX song.
Even though it's not technically part of the song, I really like the dissonant piano that is in the beginning. Once we get into the actual song though, the piano is gone but we get a plethora of other cool sounds from the deep pounding bass to the lighter eerie sounds played during some of Ken's parts. I also liked the.....tinkling noise?.......that proceeded the chorus when N sang. It's so hard to write about the noises in a song! I'm not good at it!
One thing that I can talk about though is Ken's falsetto at the bridge, that was gorgeous. Ken has such a wonderfully clear voice and he has progressed so much since VIXX debuted. Then after that bit of ear candy, Leo lays on his note and by this point I am done.
Last thing I want to mention are the lyrics because those are kind of dark. When I watched the video with subs, it took on a whole new level of twistedness. The speaker of our song is saying that he loves a girl so much that he doesn't care what she does to him as long as he can be with her. She can torture and abuse him, but to see her smile is enough. This all works with the concept since it is about voodoo dolls. Hooray for cohesiveness!
I also really liked the "tick tock, tick tock, may it all be fulfilled" bit of the song. It is like a spell is being cast and that is a nice touch since voodooism is black magic.
How's the video?
Whoa.
I don't even know what to do with this video.
I think that Jellyfish has a secret room that belongs to VIXX. This secret room is kept refrigerated and this is where they keep all the body parts and decomposing flesh that they have been using in VIXX's videos. "Hyde" was definitely more creepy crawly than it was slimy, but there were still things that looked suspiciously like internal organs in that video.
Something that I really loved, and was disturbed by, were the rooms that the boys were all in. They were all unique to that person and each member also had their own unique emotions that accompanied their character. It would have been really easy for all the members to be in the same rooms and expressing the same feeling of anger and maybe fear, but we were given such a larger spectrum here.
N is straight up pissed and looks like he would like nothing more than to rip that girls face off. I also think that his prison is the most cruel because he isn't barred and his window is broken. I would even say that he was the one who broke it. His freedom is right in front of him but he is unable to attain it. It is like our girl doesn't even see N as enough of a threat to really trap him as she has the others.
I'm not getting much from from Leo other than he, like N, would also like to rip that girl's face off. I think that if he were in N's cell, he would manage to bust out somehow. Even though, he only has a chain link fence around him while the others have bars and plexiglass. The two scariest looking prisoners have the weakest shields. I suppose it is to show them no matter how much they hate her and how much they struggle, they can't escape.
For me, Ken is the most heartbreaking prisoner. From seeing him on VIXX TV and Diary, he seems like a person that really enjoys being around people and making them happy. Here, he is trapped behind a glass wall, unable to be with anyone. You can see the anguish on his face as he longs to touch the hand of his tormentor even though she causes him pain.
Ravi also seems to have a desire for our lady, but his desire to me seems more passion driven. He hates her so much, but at the same time he wants her. He also has those weird contacts in which I take to mean someone who has been with her for a long time. He is more doll than man now. He is losing himself and becoming her slave.
Hongbin is her favorite captive. Maybe she has had him the longest or maybe it is because he is her artwork, but she seems the most gentle with him. It looks like she is trying to stroke his face through the glass and he is also trying to reach out and touch her as well. Hongbin is the middle ground of Ken and Ravi, he hates her but he wants her, not is the way that Ravi does, but for the simple action of human contact like Ken. He also has the contacts in which also parallels his own emotions with Ravi's.
Then we have the maknae and I don't have a lot to say about him. His emotions aren't very strong which could be attributed to the fact that the girl looks like she is trying to turn him into a tree. Maybe he is the newest edition to her collection and she wanted to try something new.
I liked at the end of the video when the doll was trying to run away like VIXX's spirits were being contained in it. I was a little confused as to why they were in different outfits when they got out though. At that, how did they get out of their prisons? They even looked a little confused, or that could have just been terror at being caught.
It is absolutely heart wrenching to watch Hongbin being caught at the end though it does make me want to know what happened to the other five members.
Maybe this makes me a terrible person, but I kind of wish that Hongbin had had one sad little tear fall from his doll eye. He is completely under her control, but he still has that one tiny ounce of humanity left that allows him to realize what is being done to him and he can't do about it.
Well, that was dark. I think I need a puppy.
How's the styling?
I liked that they were able to tie in the doll theme with the outfits that they wore. On some of the suits it looks like they have been Frankenstein-ed together or someone has stitched white thread over the different pieces of the jackets. It is a fun take on a pretty normal looking outfit. There would have been nothing wrong with VIXX wearing normal dark suits, but these seaming details make them special. I also liked that some of the members had bi-colored shirts.
Is the dance super amazing?
I am really glad that the practice video came out this morning so that I could watch it before I posted this. I have been waiting for this because from what I saw from the videos and live performances the dance looked amazing. Something that VIXX does really well is making interesting shapes with their bodies whether that be on their own, or layering the members.
I also thought it was interesting that Ken was the one who was flipped up at the beginning. I guess it makes sense because he, aside from Ravi, opens the song, but when I think about dance, Ken is not the first person that comes to mind.
I also like everything that happens at the beginning of the chorus. The beat is powerful, the line is "look carefully at what I'm going to do" as the stretch out their arms as if to present themselves.
Which member owned it?
There wasn't one person who out shone the rest, but N, Ken, and Hongbin were placed a little higher that the other three.
N is one of those annoying people that look good no matter what happens to them. He also seems pretty good at acting so he was really able to convey proper emotions in the video.
Ken caught my eye because he was just so freaking sad looking and it broke my heart every time he came on screen.
And Hongbin because he just freaks me out. He rocked this concept, pulled out his crazy eyes, or eye rather, and it was horribly beautiful.
He also has this wonderful moment in the clean version at about the 3:05 mark where there is a shot of him laughing for about a second and, again, horribly beautiful.
Did the English make your ears bleed?
Oh, Ravi. Dear, sweet Ravi. I know that you try really hard when it comes to English, but your track record is against you. The intro to "Superhero" went as follows: Yeah. I Wanna win this race. VIXX. Value in Excelsis. Brand new boys in the building. Yes sir. Sure, we gonna make it rookie's time. Race is exciting.
Rock Ur Body: Let the games begin ya'll.Check it out, V I double X in the house.
On and On: We back again now. This is real fantasy. 'Cause I ain't playin' around.
Hyde: New generation is back. Yeah, we killin' this track right now. We started from the bottom, but we just do it now, eh. Just follow.
Why, Girls?: You deserve it girl. I say I love you.
As you can see Ravi has improved since the beginning because I am pretty sure that he writes all of his parts. They are becoming more cohesive and there is a clearer message there even his pronunciation is getting better. But then the intro of this song happened.
VooDoo Doll: You shot right through my heart. I will fall for you.
I think that is what the last line is, it sounds really garbled. There is also the "Should I stay, should I go? No body know" during the chorus. I think that Jellyfish needs to make sure that Ravi and Brian spend like five minutes together after Ravi writes his parts. That's all we need to fix little grammar mistakes and pronunciation errors. Make this happen.
What else is happening?
Things I liked
Lush "Yesterday" - This song is beautiful. It is ballad-y but it also have a stronger sound so I am really liking this.
Hyolin "Lonely" - This is another ballad that I really like, it's a good week I guess.
History "What am I to You" - I don't know why I don't like these guys, but they just don't do it for me.
Younha "It's Okay" - It happened, this is the ballad that I didn't like. It's way too ballad-y for me.
Seriously, I don't know what to do with myself right now I am so excited about all this VIXX stuff that's going down. I touched on this for a second in my "Only U" mv review post, but I have recently come into a great love for VIXX. I think that it can easily be said that they will never over take Block B because I love me some Block B, but they are a very close second. I could see Block B and VIXX being friends. It would probably also be the noisiest friendship on the planet and Leo would probably end up killing either himself or everyone around him, except for maybe Ken and Hongbin.
When this video comes out, these boys will have put out five music videos this year. Five. I thought that BAP and U-KISS were work-a-holics, but that title now has officially been given to VIXX. Congratulations, I guess. Now take your trophy and go sleep, good gracious.
Back to my feels......these teasers are really cool. Let us look at them in all their macabre glory shall we?
I'm weird in the fact that I like these types of photos and reading Edgar Allen Poe and everything that is in the macabre category, but I cannot watch scary things. I absolutely cannot do horror things, but I love these subtly creepy things at the same time. It is a fine balance and it makes sense to me and that's all that matters.
These pictures are so cool though! My favorite picture is definitely N's because, dude looks dead. It's super creepy and wonderful. My second favorite would have to be Hyuk's. His photo is different than the other five and I love how it looks like he is falling apart and being controlled by some outside force.
I also really like the voodoo doll in the pictures. As weird as this may sound, I want one. I think that they are really cool looking and that Jellyfish should sell them because I would be all over that. I could totally make one though, but it's not the same!
Then to make their creepy doll even cooler, they made a gigantic one and stuck it to their building! It's probably totally not fluffy and cuddleable, but I want to hug it.
Now for the most important thing that is going to happen, the music video. I think that it is pretty safe to say that in two weeks the post will be about VIXX unless something else amazing happens because the music video looks like it is going to be really cool. I'm also wondering if there is going to be two different music videos since there are two different teasers, the first one and the second one that is "rated R" because it is way more intense than the first one.
I was really digging the second one because you got to see all the different rooms that this random chick has VIXX trapped in and also because Hongbin all of a sudden is becoming really awesome. Not that he hasn't always been pretty cool, but I think that he is my favorite person in VIXX after Leo.
Seriously, where is all the scary intensity coming from? I love it.
The only problem that I have with the teasers at the moment is that it does feel a little like "Hyde" because of the creepy decrepit house sets they're in. I am also a little worried that Shaowls are going to come in with their torches and pitchforks because of the beginning when Ken being swung up into the air like Taemin was as the beginning of "Everybody". I just saw on comments on Youtube, it's already happening. *sigh*
Finally, from the sound byte, this song sounds like it is going to be pretty high energy and dark sounding. I don't want to say that I was disappointed in "Hyde", because that is hardly the case, but I was hoping that it was going to be darker than it actually was. I think that is another reason that I like the second teaser better than the first one, because it is more intense sounding and that is what I want!
I think that it is pretty safe to say that I will be hovering at my computer at 9pm on Tuesday. Who else is excited?
