Hello everyone, hope you all had a happy holiday, and welcome back to another Comments of the Week, where we feature some of our favorite comments. Before that, let’s have a brief look at what went down this week on Seoulbeats:
In music, we reviewed Cheetah‘s aptly-timed “Star Wars,” and, as it is Christmastime, there was a recap of all the holiday-themed, K-pop releases this year. Meanwhile, in tv and variety, there was a review of the first two episodes of Infinite‘s Showtime.
In usual Seoulbeats Segments, For Your Viewing Pleasure focused on that eye contact, an SB Chatbox with Gaya and Cjontai, a K-pop Indie Gem featuring VIVIS, The Sunday Social on the iKon lightstick debacle and the always present Best of Weekly Music Shows.
As it is nearing the end of the year, Seoulbeats writers discussed our annual End-of-Year Reviews on everything we usually review: K-Indies, Dances, Debuts, Comebacks, and MVs.
And now, on to our favorite comments:
Michele on The Sunday Social, 12/20: What Are Your Favorite Lightsticks
I feel like iKon can’t really win in this situation. They are going for the baseball bat but it really looks more like a fat light stick and not really a unique symbol, contrary to the crown Big Bang has or the W of Winner, or really any other lightsticks from YG. When the symbol is so similar to a light stick then the color is going to be important.
Also iKon with their image want to go with a bold color, a more ‘violent’ color. (Winner’s lightstick glows a shade of blue which is a cooler tone and goes with their ‘sophisticated’ concept) There were talks about them going for red, but that angered Cassies because ”red is DBSK’s” so i feel like they went for the second boldest ‘badass’ color wich is bold orange, similar to red but not quite, and that angered Shinhwa and Shinhwa Changjo.
Realistically, with the concept and image iKon is going for, they can’t really go for that many colors, they won’t take the same color as their YG labelmates, and they can’t really go for a lighter, more ‘delicate’ color. They probably should have gone with a different symbol than a baseball bat and if the symbol was very unique they might have gone with red or orange and it would not have created this whole mess, at least not as big as it is.
mijooliet on SB End of Year Review: Debuts that Hit and Miss the Mark
2015 is probably one of the best years in terms of the qualities of rookies! I wonder how we got so lucky, it’s refreshing to see each of them trying to secure a spot with their own styles. For me, Monsta X, Twice, Day6, Seventeen, and Oh My Girl were the ones who stole my heart.
I’ve seen some criticism about how ‘generic’ Monsta X is for a hiphop group, but I love them for their skills on stage and of course, their songs. I don’t think we can deny how stable, charming, powerful, and in-sync they are on stage and I think that’s their strongest point. They also killed every award-show stage in my opinion, and they showed something new (I swear Tresspass has sooo many remixes) each time. I hope their whatever their concepts may be next year will still allow them to showcase their talents, along with better title tracks as well. I’m still side-eyeing Starship for giving them the wrong title track (Rush instead of Hero) only to suddenly shift direction (cause they realized how people loved Hero more) and squeezed more packed schedules for these boys. I honestly feel bad; they could’ve hit it better if they went with Hero right from the start. They wouldn’t have to waste time.
As for Twice, as has been said by all of you above, I also think that JYP chose the right concept for them. We can see them as whole group, not only focused on some people, and each of them radiate such youthful, but different charm that feels natural. Ooh Ahh is actually not the best song, but it certainly Twice’s song. It feels that the song is personally made for them and none other groups will be able to pull it off. I love their quirks (especially Sana’s) and also their skills. They have a lot of members, however, and I feel that Chaeyoung and Jungyeon are so under-appreciated. Chaeyoung is an excellent rapper and she has all the swag that a 16 year-old needs to have (yes she’s freaking 16) and I believe Jungyeon can do good if you give her enough chance. Dahyun, on the other hand, has to work very hard in the future.
I was so amazed by Day6 that I almost bought their album (I managed to hold myself back though). Every track in their album is a wonder, each of them has their own color that impresses me. How could this new group can be so… complete? Yes they’re not that young so it’s expected that their music will be somehow mature but I’m still pretty much wowed at the fact that they managed to deliver such a solid album. Congratulations itself is a very strong title track; the message is simple but how they deliver it is over the top. It also helps that the MV is amazing. I couldn’t be more thankful. Hopefully little Dowoon will have a chance to shine brighter next year, I definitely want to see him develop more. He has time, though. He’s still young!
I wasn’t impressed by Seventeen at first cause I just had enough of big groups but then I saw their live performance. It was beyond awesome.They have so many members but still managed to be so in-sync, cohesive, and organized on stage. Much more than SJ and EXO ever have and will be. I’m not a fan of their songs, to be very honest, but their talents impressed me. For Oh My Girl, they’re actually a typical group, but somehow they managed to pull me. I enjoyed Cupid, and marveled at how pleasant Closer is. I think it’s one of the best rookie songs in 2015, if not actually the best. They still need more time to develop, but I’m willing to watch them progress.
I was one of the few people that couldn’t get into the GFriend craze. I honestly don’t understand where their main charm is because for me, they’re just another too-cute group. Their innocent concept cannot win me over, and I was never able to finish listening to their songs. Both Me Gustas Tu and Glass Bead aren’t my type, and personally I don’t really like their voice colors. I’ve seen them on stage and yes they perform well, but so far that’s it. This is just me, though. I know everyone else loves them and I’m sure they’ll continue to grow. I just hope they won’t be stuck in the same concept forever, cause that would be a tiresome.
namita sankar on SB End-of-Year Review: Favorite Comebacks of 2015
Honestly agree with you all, 2015 definitely was the finest show k-pop was put forth in a long time. From the simultaneous promotions from SM and the huge media play by YG, really, I feel like I have had two decades worth of k-pop music in my phone right now. I seriously cannot believe that it was only a year ago that Shawols were going crazy over Jonghyun‘s solo (and now over SHINee‘s Japanese release on 1/1/16…being a Shawol is hectic). And after that there was just a flurry of very good releases from all artists, though I guess Girl’s Day‘s Ring My Bell, just got lost amidst the awesome media play by companies which have tons of money stashed away.
I agree, the promotion method for Big Bang and EXO were soo grand, but that is why SHINee’s simplicity shines brighter. And BTS, woah, those boys got some moves, wasn’t into them all that much but…same goes for Wonder Girls, still not a fan, but those girls really came back with a bang didn’t they?!
And that’s it for this week! Thank you for stopping by and commenting and we hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!
(Images via JYP Entertainment, Pledis Entertainment, Vogue)
