Although absent from the year’s vibrant K-pop music scene, Super Junior has kept busy with their never-ending world tours and gentle foray into more serious Japanese promotions. In 2013, the group released Hero, their debut Japanese studio album, comprised mainly of Japanese remakes of previous songs of the group, including popular ones from the sub-units. Donghae and Eunhyuk also released their second single, “I Wanna Dance,” which is probably one of the most amusing things from the group all year.
Releasing on December 11 is the group’s first original Japanese single, “Blue World.” In early November, Avex released snippets of both “Blue World” and the B-side track “Candy” in anticipation of their newest single.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYdQYOGdizQ]The music video is standard Super Junior fare: lights, constricted structure, dance formations, close-ups. It seems that Yesung’s military enlistment has allowed for a slight more even distribution of lines. Make no mistake, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook still bear the brunt of the singing, but with what looks like two raps for Eunhyuk and Shindong to share and the others stepping up in seconds, the group is sounding a bit more balanced. The sets and styling stick to blues, grays, and black, looking polished but failing to highlight either the choreography or the members. However, the switch from mostly grayscale to color in time for the chorus was a nice touch to fit the lyrics.
Readers, what are your thoughts on Super Junior’s “Blue World,” at least, what has been released of it?
(Super Junior Japan (Avex), YouTube [1][2])
