From the moment that she debuted, I fell in love with Heyne and I don't know why, it doesn't makes any sense. Her voice is so cute and her debut video was really cute too and that is something that I normally don't like at all. But then again, I do like to listen to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu sometimes. I'm a complicated being.
Heyne has this fun 80s vibe about her so it made perfect sense that she would dress up as Cyndi Lauper
during that performance where VIXX dressed like the Wonder Girls. When I heard that was going to be her performance, I immediately though, that makes perfect sense. I could already hear her voice and see her bouncing around the stage with teased hair and neon colors.
I think that what I like about her so much is that she does have a different sound than the other female singers around her. That's one of the reasons that I like Lim Kim, her voice is fantastic! There are so many groups and soloists in K-pop and it is hard to make yourself known even if you do have something that no one else does.
It also helps if you have a large company to back you up, but not everyone has that. As I have been broadening my K-pop spectrum I have found that some of my favorite groups are a bit nugu which is a shame because they deserve some sort of recognition, but who's to say if that is ever going to happen with the amount of activity that is going on in the entertainment world. Go support the lesser knowns!!!
How's the video?
I don't think that Heyne would be a very good spy, either that, or the company she is working for is incompetent because she wouldn't be able to take anyone out in that brick room because every member of the K-pop community live in there. I can see it now.......
HEYNE: Code Name: Heyne. Mission: take out that guy from SNL Korea. My target is locked, nothing could go wrong........wait, what? U-KISS? What are you doing here? I'm on a top secret mission, you have to get out!
U-KISS: We can't! We're been stuck in this room for so long that Dongho has come down with a serious case of the crazies! He has this imaginary girlfriend and we don't want to get him out into the real world until we know that he isn't going to end up doing something embarrassing or dangerous.
HEYNE: That's terrible! I hope that he is okay, send me a text when he's better. Try to stay out of my way though, I may be the size of a toothpick, but I'm packing heat. Okay, that was weird. Well, back to the mission. Where are you, you.....what? Again? What are you guys doing in here?
TEEN TOP: Oh, you know, just posing, cheating on girls, you want to join?
HEYNE: Excuse me? How about I shoot you? Get out of here! I'm on a mission! Seriously, how big is this room? I could have sworn that U-KISS was standing in that exact spot a second ago.
This is totally what would happen. This room is so overused, you would think that K-pop groups would want to be original but they all just go to this same room. Whoever owns this room is a genius because he must be rolling in money.
How's the styling?
I wasn't totally sold on Heyne's hair in this video. I actually thought that she was wearing a bad hair piece in the beginning. From the front it looks likes she has ahjumma hair and it confused me.
The only time that I thought her bangs looked good was in the dancing scenes and when she was wearing the pencil skirt because they were straight and even then I wasn't totally on the bang boat. They seemed way over styled and heavy and they weren't doing anything for her face.
Questionable hair aside, I did like what she was wearing in the video. I also noticed for the first time how tiny she was. I had read something about it, but I didn't realize how small she was until she was standing with her back up dancers.
Yes, he knees are a little bent, but so are all the other girls' knees! And look at her waist! She is seriously like half the size of the girls around her.
My favorite outfit that she wore was the white one with all the colorful spots.
This outfit has a bit of an 80s feel with the one glove and the tulle skirt and I've already said that she reminds me of an Asian Cyndi Lauper so I loved everything about this.
Is the dance super amazing?
The main point of the dance was a modified River Dance.
Other than that, there wasn't much to the dance, just a lot of hopping and looking cute.
Which member owned it?
Since Kim Min Kyo played Heyne's James Bond, it could have been easy for him to outshine her since he is such a large character and popular in Korea. Heyne was able to shine along side him though, which is good since it was her video and all.
Did the English make your ears bleed?
The English in this song is all pretty good. I heard all the English parts before I added subs and that can sometimes be a great accomplishment in songs (ie Ravi-ese). I don't know if Heyne speaks any English or if she just works under a very competent company, but I hope that her English continues to be good.
I am still enjoying this drama which is good because I am still a little traumatized about the time that I put into Mi-Rae's Choice and the realization that it had no point. Why do you do these things to me dramas? This one continues to be cute though and I am suffering from Second Male Lead Love right now, which seems to be a trend in the dramas that I am picking this year. I don't know how much more my poor heart can take!
In this weeks episodes, there were misunderstandings, hidden agendas, and a whole lot of socks. I love a good sock, but it is getting a little ridiculous, but I love it. This drama is based off a manwha so it is going to be a little crazier than your usual drama and it is doing just that. Now all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that it doesn't crash and burn.
Episode 5
Does Hong Yoo Ra have a heart somewhere under that facade of beautiful vengeance?
This episode begins with Hong Yoo Ra crying to Ma Te because her ex-mother-in-law has told Yoo Ra that she is going to send Yoo Ra's six year old daughter abroad. This, of course, makes Yoo Ra cry which is totally understandable. She misses her daughter and wants her back, but now there is no way that is going to ever happen because she won't even be in the same country. She asks Ma Te to help her take down MG so that she and her daughter can be reunited. Special moment.....kind of.....
As soon as she is out of Ma Te's house though her scary poker face is back and all she's concerned about is her smudged mascara. So, do you actually care about your daughter or not?
Be careful Ma Te, your button is showing
Even though Ma Te isn't aware of it yet, Bo Tong is his button, it will be interesting to see what he does when he realizes that. When he misunderstood when Bo Tong and David said that they were living together and talking about beds was amazing. Like with all the other women that we have seen him come in contact with, you can see that he does care for Bo Tong even if he doesn't love her.....yet.
So much second hand embarrassment
I am making the same face as that nail artist. This scene was gloriously painful.
I'm sorry that you are the second male lead
"I am so, so sorry." - The Doctor
Episode 6
Connections
In the last episode we were introduced to woman number three, Kim In Joong, and Ma Te is suppose to learn about connections and how to deal with people from her. Something that you always see in dramas is that the nice girls are always poor and sometimes quite dumb and it can be infuriating; on the other hand, the rich girls are beautiful and have a horrible personality. This drama is giving us successful women that are good people and even though they may fall for Ma Te's charms, they are also smart enough to step back. I hope that all these woman will continue to be portrayed this way because it is a nice breath of fresh air.
Socks, socks everywhere
I thought that this sock thing would die out after Jaek Hee left, but it is still going strong and I am actually liking it. It wasn't a plot that was awkwardly dropped, instead, it is forging onward hysterically. David and Bo Tong go to a sock club in hopes to get someone to pick up and sell their cleaning socks. Enter this piece of work and his independent sock company.
No words
Jang Geun Suk loves a good pose. After Bo Tong and David almost ruin everything with the sock man, with his newly acquired information about making connections from In Joong, Ma Te comes to the sock company flaunting some seriously skinny legs to show off his socks. They are able to get help from sock man, and, thus, able to sell their socks on MG's home shopping channel. Now it is up to them to be able to sell enough to knock Na Hong Ran off her high horse. Knowing her though, she'll have something else up her sleeve, she is a high up, scorned, dragon mom, a dangerous combination.
Stop being so perfect!!
Just stop! All you are doing is causing my heart to break because you aren't going to get the girl. I can already see your heartbroken face in my head and I don't like it.
I'm feeling a lot of things right now and happy is the least of them. The last episode of this drama has given us four people, three parallel universes, two men, and a baby. If I was feeling more creative I would make that singable to "The Twelve Days of Christmas", but I'm not, so that is what you get.
This drama had a lot of potential and I was enjoying it. There was time travel, Yoon Eun Hye, Jung Yong Hwa, weird noises when people cursed, and just general silliness. By the end though, it got a little repetitive and it was all I could do to not hit my computer and yell at the people because, seriously, why doesn't anyone tell Mi Rae anything? Do you realize how many things could have been solved had everyone not treated her like she was five? *heavy sighing*
The story made me think of Full House a little in the sense that the male lead is a giant man child and somehow everything is the female leads fault even if it totally wasn't. Granted, it wasn't as bad as Full House (thank goodness) but it was similar.
The story
Our story is about Na Mi Rae, she is 32 years old and works at a call center and has to deal with the stupid people that call in. One day she finds herself on the street, and not in some metaphorical way, she actually meets her future self.
Future Na Mi Rae says that she has come to help present Na Mi Rae have a better life than the one that she is fated to have. Something that I wondered all throughout the drama is where the heck did Ahjumma get all of her clothes. Unless she brought a Marry Poppins bag with her there is no way that she could have had as many wonderful clothes as she did.
We learn that Mi Rae marries the announcer Kim Shin and their marriage doesn't go well and Ahjumma looses the person that she loves the most in life and she is going to stop that from happening. Her plan is to get Mi Rae to marry Park Se Joo instead, the heir to the YBS broadcasting company who is masquerading as a VJ.
With the help of Ahjumma, Mi Rae quits her job at the call center, and rather spectacularly at that, and joins a production team at YBS, much to Ahjumma's dismay because that is where Kim Shin works. To make matters worse, Mi Rae and Kim Shin are on the same team. Also on this team are Park Se Joo, Mi Rae's older brother (who is not happy about his sister's choice), and Seo Yoo Kyung, doesn't that sound like a party.
Mi Rae's brother was also in I Miss You with Yoon Eun Hye and I'm glad that he still has his fabulous hair.
That is the main story of the drama and it sounds really good, but, like I said, no one tells Mi Rae anything and everyone is keeping all of these secrets and it gets ridiculous. The writer started out strong but by the end, I don't think that he really knew what to do with the story that he had created.
The characters
Lee Dong Gun as Kim Shin
That sensor thing, I wish that it hadn't gone away so soon. I'm not sure how I feel about Kim Shin. I'm actually not sure how I feel about most of this cast of characters to be perfectly honest. He was just so full of himself and attacked other before he had all of his facts straight, it was hard for him to be completely likeable. I could see that he was a good person, but sometimes I was surprised there was enough room in his house for both him and his ego.
He did grow a lot as a character and that was nice to see, but I couldn't unconditionally love him by the end. I was so irritated by the choices that he had made throughout the drama and the way that he treated some people. I want to like him but his personality throws me off a lot.
Yoon Eun Hye as Na Mi Rae
That hair.......I just wanted to go at it with a hair dryer and a can of mousse because that is really all it needed. The number one problem is that it wasn't styled, but that is the concept of most female leads, unkempt.
I love Yoon Eun Hye, I do, she is my favorite female actress, but I was not a fan of Na Mi Rae. She was the type of person who let everyone else decide her future and she was so indecisive about everything, it was a little ridiculous. She really only made two decisions in the whole drama, to become a writer in the beginning and then standing up to Grandma in the end.
She did have some good moments while working in the broadcasting station, but overall, she was a little useless and that is too bad.
Jung Yong Hwa as Park Se Joo
Hello there you beautiful human being. It was too funny that he got a halo in one of the first scenes that we see him in to not use this picture. Se Joo was also a character that wasn't the best, but I did like him better that Mi Rae and Shin. This drama was one of the rare cases where I like the second leads better than the main leads.
I liked that Se Joo wasn't your typical chaebol and didn't think that he deserved everything on a silver plate. He started low and stayed there until his grandma made him come back to the top. Then when he did get to the top he tried to make reforms, even if they weren't the best ideas. He tried though and that is what counts.
Another thing that I both liked and disliked about him is that he wasn't the second male lead that sat back and pined about the woman that he wanted. He took the initiative and made advances toward her. That is something that I didn't like though because he was kind of pushy. I understand that he saw his opportunity and wanted to jump on it, but he needed to take a chill pill.
Han Chae Ah as Seo Yoo Kyung
When I first met Yoo Kyung I didn't like her, I guess it comes with the Second Female Lead territory. She had far too much aegyo and she was also rude to Mi Rae and I was not having it. As her character developed though, I found out more about her personality and what a hard worker she was and what she put up with.
She was also the only person who acted instead of being acted upon. She thought that Ahjumma was weird so she did a little investigative work and learned a lot of information. She also put up with Se Joo's crap like a pro even though every time she saw him you could see that her heart was breaking. She is probably the only person that I wanted to be happy without any underlying uncertainty.
The ending
Spoilers! Close your eyes! Look away!
May I just say that I am not impressed right now. This drama did what Nail Salon Paris did couple wise, but then Mi-Rae took it a step farther and didn't even tell us who she ended up with. I have no words to correctly express the disgust that I am feeling right now.
What was the whole point of the story if we don't know what happens in the end? Did Ahjumma really change the future, even if it wasn't hers? That being said, future Mi Rae never buried that box, Yoon Eun Hye Mi Rae did, so how did it get to Ahjumma? Anything that happened to Mi Rae after Ahjumma came doesn't affect Ahjumma so there is no way that she could have received that box. My brain hurts.
I swear, this drama was so close to dividing by zero it wasn't even funny. I'm surprised the universe didn't just collapse in on itself from all the people meeting themselves.
In the end, I ship Mi Rae and Se Joo and there is nothing that you can say to convince me that they don't get together. NOTHING!
In all seriousness though, I was so done with all of the characters by the end and I was confused as to who should end up with who. I really only wanted Yoo Kyung to be happy because I felt that she deserved it the most because she should have been rewarded for being the only proactive character.
Final thoughts
I didn't hate this drama, it did have it good points and there were a lot of cute moments, but the characters were hard to like and the story was a little muddled in the end.
If someone asked me if they should watch this drama, I don't think that I would say no, but I would warn them that it does let you down story-wise and the ending might make you want to flip a table. It makes me sad.
Lesson One: Money is a living being. Money, if brought up carefully, will grow, but if it grows too big, it will eat you up. That's deep man.
With this lesson though, I am even more confused about the relationship that Yoo Ra has, or wants, from Ma Te. Aside from this couple, there are a lot more couples that should be, are, and were destroyed in the two episodes that were aired this week.
David Choi and Kim Bo Tong - The couple that will never be
These two are peas in the same crazy pod and I love them. Bo Tong we already know is quirky and acts like a love sick 12 year old, but that isn't something that I expected from David. I thought that he was playing into her crazy when he bought the hat/wig, but no, he is also a piece of work. He was actually wearing that thing and then when he was talking about his "vintage dust", I was so done. I'm a little sad that he doesn't stand a chance in Hell of getting her with her obsession with Ma Te. Can you imagine what their life together would be like?
Dokgo Ma Te and Kim Bo Tong - The OTP
Even though this relationship is about as one sided as you can get, I feel that it is only a matter of time before Ma Te's toast can't handle all the jelly that he will have to put on. That was incredibly lame, but I really wanted to say that so I am not ashamed. Once Ma Te realizes he is suppose to be with Bo Tong I have a feeling that it is going to be one of the cutest relationships ever.
Electric Fairy and Hong Yoo Ra - One is probably going to kill the other
I really have nothing more to say about them other than I really feel like one is going to kill the other. There is so much opinionated estrogen in the room I am surprised that it didn't just explode. It will be interesting to see what happens with these two.
The Break ups
Dokgo Ma Te and Jaek Hee - You're too good for him!!!!!!!!!!!
I think that Ma Te really did like this woman in his own way, but I am glad that she broke up with him. It does make me sad though that she feels that without her money she doesn't amount to anything. It is too bad that that is the way our society works. She was plain and poor and with her money she gained friends and made herself pretty and she knows that. She knows that without her money all of her "friends" will eave her which is why she kept throwing her money at Ma Te to keep him. I hope that she can find a man that can see beyond her money as see the lovely person that she is underneath.
Dokgo Ma Te and his hair - ...........
As long as his hair was in a ponytail and swept aside, I thought that he looked really good. I didn't like it when it was down because it looked like he had a mop on his head. All of this hair falling in his face though isn't cute. I think that he is the type of person that shouldn't have bangs, he has a nice forehead and it should be out and about. I'm going to say that he and his hair are in the awkward "getting to know you" phase.
Even though a lot of the Viki commenters are saying that they don't like the storyline, I think that it is interesting even if it is a little weird. Nothing has happened that makes me want to flip my table yet either and that is always a plus. Another plus is Jang Geun Suk's obsession with posing. Oh, Jang Geun Suk, you love yourself so much.
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.
