One of the things I enjoy most about writing for Seoulbeats is that I sometimes have to write about certain artists and dramas that are fairly new to me. Writing articles is a great opportunity to push myself outside of my comfort zone, which is intimidating but so rewarding in the long run. Writing a recap on Doctor Romantic helped me get back into dramas, while penning an album review on Far East Movement‘s Identity brought me new music to listen to without end.
Overall, the Seoulbeats experience is a great one, and with that being said, I present to you, the Seoulbeats readers, another MV review — this time on ten-piece boy group Pentagon and their newest single “Pretty Pretty” off of their latest mini-album Five Senses!
This rather jazzy song has a much different image than past Pentagon songs such as “Gorilla” and “Can You Feel It”. The song is a lot softer and toned-down, though very upbeat with the presence of what sound like trumpets along with some other instruments being played in the background.
The lyrics come from the perspective of a protagonist who’s very attracted to their love interest. They find their love interest very beautiful, something they find completely unfair as illustrated in the chorus:
Yeah, this is a secret, but you’re objectively pretty
Come on come on come on
Let me hear you say yeah
This is a penalty, you’re seriously pretty
The accompanying music video is basically the lyrics in motion with a storyline added in for animation.
The MV begins with a male student (played by member Yeo-one) who’s running late for school and is punished for his tardiness alongside some of his peers. Another student (I.O.I.‘s Kim Chung-ha), revealed to be Yeo-one’s love interest, also arrives late and stands with him and is punished with the rest of the students. He’s completely smitten with her and stares at her even after she’s noticed his gaze.
Later on, Yeo-one happens upon Chung-ha dancing while walking through the school and watches her until she catches him. After going to hide from the door, he sees a sign that reads “Pentagon”, presumed to be the name of the school’s dance club. When Yeo-one looks back inside the room, he sees Chung-ha with another guy (fellow Pentagon member Kino).
Yeo-one then gets the idea to try and impress Chung-ha by auditioning to join the group but only ends up embarrassing himself in front of the dance club members. While lamenting with his friends about his mistake, he sees Chung-ha with Kino once more. As a result, he starts practicing a dance routine with his friends in order to prove himself worthy of joining the club.
In the final scene of the MV, Yeo-one gets into a dance battle with Kino. He’s no longer wearing glasses and has traded in his school uniform for a hoodie and sweatpants. Yeo-one is able to hold his own, while Kino slips on one of his own moves and falls to the ground. It’s presumed that the former of the two wins the dance battle as Chung-ha shakes his head, thus welcoming him into the club.
Going into this review, I honestly had no idea what to expect since I knew next to nothing about Pentagon. I am happy to say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard and saw with “Pretty Pretty”. The song itself is upbeat and definitely has a feel-good vibe, which is always a plus for most pop songs. The MV was really cute, and I couldn’t help but watch it a couple times on repeat. I was also happy to see Chung-ha in the MV as both one of my favorite idols and as someone who’s gearing up for a solo debut.
It seems like Cube Entertainment is heavily focused on promoting the latest of their artists in order to keep the company afloat in one way or another. The company’s remaining girl group, CLC, made their comeback recently with “Goblin”, which caused a lot of buzz due to being so reminiscent of Cube’s former girl group 4Minute. Aside from their comeback with “I’ll Be Your Man” a few months ago, BTOB held their Time concert last week in Seoul along with a fanmeeting in the Philippines earlier this month.
Pentagon is the company’s youngest act, having only debuted in October 2016. Prior to their debut, the group was able to gain some traction through the reality show Pentagon Maker, which determined a majority of Pentagon’s final lineup. Nevertheless, promoting and pushing any and all of Cube’s remaining acts is a must, especially for a company such as Cube that is practically on the verge of collapsing.
Overall, I was very happy with “Pretty Pretty” and can see myself listening to another one of Pentagon’s songs. The MV was entertaining, and I would definitely recommend watching it to anyone curious about Pentagon.
Rating: 3.9/5
(Sources: YouTube, Color Coded Lyrics, Images via Cube Entertainment)
