Too Perfect- Super Junior M

I’ve started this review like 4 times now, but technical difficulties with the MV keep stalling me~ But, late as it is, here is the review!

Lyrics: 6/5
Think “Bonamana” and you’ve got the attitude of the song. The pace is a little different, but it’s still pretty great. The song is about being in love with someone and letting them know. They talk about the girl being “Too Perfect” in their eyes, like a vision, and how they won’t let anyone but them be by her side. It’s part a confession of love and part a description of how they plan to proceed with this love. There is a bit of confusion with some of the lines as to if they are calling the girl “too perfect” or saying they are too perfect in her eyes… I think the translation might be a little off.  It has the same arrogant feel as “Sorry, Sorry” and “Bonamana”, and it’s just as addicting. I think it wasn’t written by the writer of those two other SJ hit songs, because he tends for repetitive feels, but it’s hard to say without hearing the Korean version.

“Being too impatient is wrong/ trying too hard for love will make it shatter/ Being too slow is wrong/ I’ll move forward or step back as you wish/ oh too perfect/ I appear in your eyes/ I won’t let anyone take my place by your side/ your brows and eyes/ your silhouette/ your neck and shoulders/ your charm/ your everything from head to toe/ I’ve already fallen for you“

Dance: 6/5
This dance is a lot harder than anything Super Junior has attempted so far. It’s powerful and strong, and even watching the members in the background shows a higher level of skill. I think this might be because now 3/4 top dancers of the Super Junior family are together in one group: Henry, Donghae and Eunhyuk (Shindong is the only one missing).

Hangeng, the former leader of SJM specialized in ballet, and his dances tended to have a jazz kind of feel. A lot of SJM’s dances had the same slick feel, and this time the style seems to take after the stronger and more rugged approach of Eunhyuk and Henry (Donghae’s style follows the lyrics more).

Story: NA
There isn’t even a story in the set here. Everything is made to show off the members, and no shots are devoted to anything else. I like the sets they are on, and I understand why they chose to show off the members of SJM 2.0 rather than go for a story MV or anything.

Other Things

There is a really cool scene where the members jump into the air and ZhouMi has his solo with them frozen around him. I think it was shot really well, and that’s got to be my favorite shot in the MV.

I’m not against Siwon or anything, let me start with that. I like that this MV doesn’t feature him as much as the other ones did. You see more Henry and Kyuhyun here, two members who tended to be pushed to the side (when they weren’t doing a solo). Siwon is featured heavily in the beginning (that old SJ superstition that if he starts a song it will do well), but you see more of the others.

I don’t like that they featured Eunhyuk so heavily. Again, I have nothing against him, but if they wanted to show off the new members they should have divided it between him and Sungmin more, or Donghae too. Sungmin tends to have the least face time in MV’s of SJ members, and I was kind of hoping to see him more here.

The hats… (sigh) why the hats… At least take ZhouMi’s.

Speaking of ZhouMi- someone please give him a sandwich? I swear that boy got skinnier, and I didn’t think that was possible.

I like Ryeowook a lot more in this MV. ONCE AGAIN (hopefully for the last time) I have nothing against him! He’s one of my favorites! I just think in this MV he really nailed the expressions and pulled off the tough guy look really well. Though not as well as Kyuhyun, I have to admit I was distracted by him even while writing this ^^

Guyliner. Yes. This was a good decision. (Thumbs up)

The MV has disappeared from SM Entertainment’s YouTube page (sment@youtube). I’m not sure what’s going on there, I can only assume they are  releasing the Korean version soon- between the Chinese and Korean version they tend to have only one.

Cause I Believe- Show Luo

This is the OST for the Taiwanese drama “Hot Shot”.

Lyrics
This is a very sweet song about being madly in love with a girl. It isn’t about asking the girl to love them in return, it is just saying they feel blessed to be in love with them and wishing the girl nothing but happiness. There is one line that really stands out “If you have already fallin in love with his name I am willing to be gradually forgotten”.
“Cause I believe in the law of Inextinguishable Happiness/ who will give you the beauty in your palms/ silence keeps words inside/ just let my heart quietly guard you/ blessings don’t need echos“

Dancing:
Show Luo is known as the “Dance King of Asia” (it’s a poll done yearly, he usually wins, but this year he came in second under Hangeng). In this MV though he doesn’t dance, as it is an OST.

Story
I haven’t seen the drama this came from, I just know it’s really popular. Just take the song apart from the MV and it tells a story of it’s own.

Other Things
I don’t really have anything to say about this MV. It’s one of Show Luo’s calmer and sweeter ones, like “Love Doesn’t Travel Alone”.

Holding an Umbrella- Hangeng

Yay~ now wordpress is finally working right again!

This MV is very much unrelated to the other two. If “Moths to Flame (Fire)” and “Say No” really are supposed to form a story then this is the outlier.

Lyrics
This song can actually be taken two different ways. Either it is a song about being thankful to a lover for always being there for them or a song thanking parents for their love and support (this is what the MV leans towards). The song asks what would happen if they had never met, would the singer still be able to be as happy as they are? Though no doubt there are going to be fangirls who insist this is a secret message to Super Junior~
“What would happen if I didn’t meet you?/ Would my heart still be wandering?/ In an unknown night an unknown wound hurts/ delusions/ what would happen if I didn’t meet you?/ would I still be able to see this heaven?/ You always silently accompany me by my side/ you’ve taught me how to be strong“

Dancing
There is no dancing in this MV. Though Hangeng was recently voted the “Dancing King of Asia” over usual winner Show Luo, he only danced in his first MV “Moths to Flame (Fire)”.

Story: 5/5
This is a REALLY sad story~ You see Hangeng as a normal kid living with his parents. He leaves for work on his bike after bidding farewell to both. On the way he picks a bundle of small wild flowers. He isn’t having a good day though. Coming out of a turn he is hit by a truck (not hard). He gets up, dusts himself off, naggs the driver, and goes on his way. He is a night patrol man somewhere and during his patrols he is attacked by a ferocious~ puppy ^^ He shares his food with it and plays. Hangeng then returns to his post where he spends the rest of the night trying to write a letter to someone. He returns home the next day to crying faces and a crowd at his home. Upon seeing his body on the ground in front of his parents he realizes he was actually killed when the truck hit him, and his body is still holding tightly to the flowers. For me the saddest part of all this is that it means the dog was dead too! and it was REALLY cute….

Other Things
This is the second MV Hangeng filmed with no makeup or hair styling done as a way to keep with the theme of being reborn.

I think the two story MVs were Hangeng’s way of finally getting to act, something he continuously complained about when he was with SM Entertainment (for 2 years I think he mentioned in almost every interview he would love to get an acting opportunity).

I *am* keeping score, and this is the third MV in which Hangeng dies. The others are Zhang Li Yin’s “Timeless” and “Left Shore of Happiness/ I Will” series. Though if you count “Timeless Part 1″ and “Timeless Part 2″ it is the fourth. I still need to review those…

This song, I think, really illustrates what Hangeng meant when he said that for this album he has no theme, he sings song styles he’s always wanted to, regardless if they are dance songs or not. “Say No” and “Moths to Flame (Fire)” both have a similar feel, at least you can imagine them being on the same album, but this is a very slow and simple ballad.

Say No- Hangeng

Ok, this is *Definately* a story MV, and if it isn’t about the suffering of Hangeng under SM Entertainment then I will eat my words. I’m that confident.

Lyrics
The song is about living a life of fame and luxury, unable to “say no” to anything.  The lyrics talk about becoming tired with this lifestyle and slowly loosing everything that was them. It walks about feeling like a stone from the pain and pressure. Since this is basically what Hangeng said in his Contract Termination lawsuit I’m pretty confident it is about him leaving SM and finding his way on his own. He asks if the last few years have been a waste and talks about enduring through hard times and finally having the freedom to “Say no”.
“At this time I only want to loudly say no/ without a moments hesitation and unrestrictedly say no/ even if I have to receive wounds all over my body/ In exchange for letting go at this moment/ day after day tiredness accumulates in my chest/ I lie down and feel like I’m a rock, unable to preserve anything/ what can be considered an exit/ give me a moment of freedom“

Dancing
There is no dancing to this song whatsoever

Story: 5/5
The story in this MV is actually really sweet. It is about Hangeng being surrounded constantly by reporters and needing a break. He is trapped in his own house by the constant presence of cameras and when he tries to sneak out he is crowded to the point where he falls off of the staircase and ends up injured in the hospital with a neck injury and a cast around his arm. Hangeng has with him a postcard from New Zealand. He escapes the hospital and takes the first flight there, meaning to hike on a long journey to the location the postcard was taken. On the way he meets and falls in love with a Chinese girl who accompanies him. She grows weak and collapses, however, and is taken by helicoptor. Hangeng chases it and sits waiting for news. Eventually he continues on his journey to the mountain peak, reaching it eventually.

Other Things
This entire MV was filmed without Hangeng wearing any makeup or having his hair done. It is meant to carry the theme of being reborn as his self after having to put on an image all through Super Junior promotions.

This was actually filmed on location in New Zealand with Hangeng climbing the mountain himself.

Like I said, if this song isn’t about the hardships he faced in SM and finally being able to lead his own life then I don’t deserve to review MVs.

Moths to Flame (Fire)- Hangeng

This is Hangeng’s first solo MV for his album “Rebirth”.

Lyrics:
The song is about love making you crazy, but it goes a bit more into detail than you usually see. Repeatedly Hangeng asks if he is sober or drunk and talks about love’s poisoning touch. The name of the song comes from a line where he says he would “rather be a moth to flame”. The content of the song is very good. It has more verse and less chorus than other songs I’ve heard. I think this is what will set Hangeng apart from all the other soloists, other than his musical origins with Super Junior I mean.
“(I) I have a type of feeling/ (will) that will push me forward/ (fly) to fly past the horizon just to get closer to you/ (crazy) Insane, accustomed to hallucinations/ (crazy) Wildly indulged in music/ (love) love is hard to undo, slipping past the border of dreams/ a multi-colored world“

Dance
The dance is themed around the year of the Tiger (This year in the Chinese calendar, also Hangeng’s year). I personally think it is a little simple for him, and I don’t think I like the tiger claws hand form through the whole thing. The dance seemed a little halting, like it starts and stops repeatedly between sets. It’s not an easy dance, Hangeng is definitely going all out.

Story: NA-ish/5
There is a comic-book like story in the beginning and end showing Hangeng as being trapped by reporters always looking for dirt on him. My personal opinion, since the comic story is disjointed from the rest of the MV, is that it is a lead-in for his next one “Say No” and that it might be addressing the media cloud that descended around him when he finally came out of “hiding” (for lack of a better word) after his sudden departure from Super Junior. I’ll explain all that in his Artist Profile and you can judge for yourself.

Other Things
There is a message at the end that is either a tie-in to “Say No” or a statement from Hangeng to those who criticized (and still do) his departure from Super Junior. You choose, here it is: “Music&My Life/ I don’t care what other people say I’m going to make my own way.”

I REALLY don’t like Hangeng’s look in this MV. Nothing against Hangeng himself, I just think the makeup is way too heavy and his hair has too much in it. Again, this might be a reference to his feeling over-produced under SM Entertainment, but either way I think it is just too much. Hangeng isn’t bad looking on his own (I’ve always thought he was pretty cute at least) but for some reason they really caked on the makeup.

Early articles said that Hangeng’s 3 MVs fit together to tell a story. I think this one fits in to “Say No” (Which I’ll review next) very well, but the connection is purely through the comics at the beginning and end.

Hangeng’s album, mentioned in the beginning and end, is called “Rebirth”, as the Chinese for this includes the “Geng” character for his name. The theme of the album was that he would only sing the songs he wants to sing, and he is currently not contracted to any music company. All songs are produced by his own team and he is in charge of schedules and such.

I really do like this song, I just think the MV is a bit… odd. I must say I like the song a lot more after finally seeing subtitles. The content is good, and it is a fresh kind of love song.

No legal issues have risen, this is just something going around by the netizens (Online fans or anti-fans), but there is a murmur that this song was plagiarized from a song written and composed by U-Know Yunho of DBSK (SM Entertainment). However, if there really was a great similarity I think SM Entertainment would have been quick to file a lawsuit against Hangeng. As it is the company seems ready to put all of this behind them. I will keep an eye out for you all and let you know if anything else comes of this.

Jiggy (Chinese Version)- F.CUZ featuring Yao Yao

See? I told you I’d review it eventually!

Lyrics: what the hell is this? -_- /5
Seriously… What the hell is this nonsense -_- . Tell me, now. Explain yourselves!

The original song is about getting over a breakup and taunting the girl, saying look at me now, I’m happy. It’s like a happy “go f- yourself” song. I liked it! This new one is about seeing a cute girl and falling in love, promising to give her anything she wants. It’s asking her to “be my girlfriend” and repeatedly talks about how cute she is. -_- no. And there are lines (I’ll mark them with * on either side) sung by the girl back.
“Get get getting jiggy/ getting jiggy/ jiggy jiggy jiggy/ getting jiggy getting E E E/ oh oh oh Only you and I have chemistry/ *with our hearts beating as one*/ *it’s so sweet*/ jiggy jiggy, jiggy jiggy/ getting getting jiggy jiggy/ jiggy jiggy jiggy/ getting jiggy getting E E E/ oh oh oh I’ll give you anything you want/ *I only want you and me*/ get get getting jiggy“

Dancing
It’s the same choreography as the good version. -_-

Story
-_-

Other Things
Can you tell I really HATE this MV??? It literally makes me nauseous. The lyrics are sloppily translated and a guy who talks like that would make me want to barf. Half the lyrics are promising strange things, like “If your mom needs help opening a breakfast restaurant I’ll help” and “I’m ready even if it’s poisonous” (not about the food, about falling in love). -_-

THE RECORDING. If you are going to record a Chinese version of a song with a female duet, then realize that you will actually have to spend the money and time to fully re-record the song- NOT JUST THE PARTS THAT CHANGED. It’s horrible! The original parts of the song are laced with a voice over of the girl and the verse and changed parts stand out from the rest to such a ridiculous degree it’s obvious they just took those tracks and replaced them with voice overs. Turn on the song then bar it (don’t watch this MV -_-) and you’ll hear exactly what I mean. The sound mixing is horrendous.

THE GIRL IS NOT CUTE!!!! She is trying too hard to be cute and sweet looking, that is what makes me feel ill. She is trying so hard to act cute she just looks obnoxious, like a bad joke. She tries to smile too much, and the zooms are too close, it’s just annoying!!! Plus the camera is so close she is cross-eyed half the time. And it’s kind of obvious she has those eye-enhancing contacts in (they make your eyes look larger than they are by expanding the colored part). She seriously goes for some unreachable level of cute only babies should ever achieve or strive for, and it makes you want to punch something fuzzy. I’m sure she isn’t this obnoxious in all songs, or else she wouldn’t be popular, but in this she really goes way too far to look cute.

羅志祥 (Getting Used to It)- Show Luo

This is one of the MVs Show Luo filmed on a 10 day trip to New York.

Lyrics:
The song is about loosing the girl you love and being willing to do anything to escape the pain. The singer isn’t mad about the girl leaving, he feels responsible for not noticing that love was leaving the relationship. The song talks about not being able to sleep from the pain. It is a mournful ballad, not the usual style for this singer.
“I’ll get used to it/ I’ll get used to it/ It was I who chose to not perceive/ the signs of breaking up/ the problem of not having a tinge of tiredness cannot be cured/ I’ll get used to it/ I’ll get used to it/ I admit that I didn’t feign it well enough/ please give me one second more“

Dance
Despite Show Luo being the “Dancing King of Asia” there is no dance for this song.

Story: 5/5
The video for the song conveys the mood perfectly. There are many shots of Show Luo and the girl he loves having fun and playing together. Mixed into it are shots of him sitting alone. He remembers when they played together in the kitchen and starts to laugh, before he realizes she is not there anymore. While sitting in a cafe he thinks he sees her again and runs out, but she is not there. There are a lot of shots of him crying alone.

Other Interesting Things
This is just a really sad MV~

They did a lot of scenery shots of New York, but other than the shots of him standing with the city behind him you don’t see them emphasizing the city itself. It isn’t “ooh look, we filmed in New York!”, which a lot of other MVs do when they film out-of-country. It lets you focus on the story told in the video.

U (Chinese Version)- Super Junior M

This is the debut MV for the widely popular sub-group of Super Junior. It is a re-make of Super Junior’s first smash hit by the same name.

Lyrics:
The song is about being madly in love with a girl and being unable to get her image from their eyes. They ask that she lets them be the one to love her and says that they will make her love them and only them. It is a seduction song, pure and simple.
“Cause I can’t stop thinking ’bout U girl/ you are my most beautiful dream/ No I can’t stop thinking ’bout U girl/ I want our hands to be held tightly together“

Dancing
The song has some of the original choreography from Super Junior’s version. A lot of the dance is very similar, but still different. The hip thrust is still there, it was known as the key point in the original song too. There are two dance solos, one by leader Hangeng and the other by new member Henry. I like to watch Henry’s more, since he is dancing while playing the violin (his specialty) ^^

Story
There isn’t a story through the MV. You mostly see the group performing or the members dancing. There is a girl in the MV, but she is only in a few shots. The MV was filmed in-studio and also in Incheon International Airport in Seoul. The two locations look amazing, particularly the airport. Before I watched the behind the scenes I would never have guessed that is what it was!

Other Interesting Things
This song made “Only 13″, the members of Super Juniors fanclub who protested Henry and ZhouMi being added to the sub-group, act up. While most of their protests were during Dont’ Don (in which Henry was a “Guest Member” of Super Junior), they still caused some trouble during this.

“U” became instantly popular in China, as did Super Junior- M. They swept all music awards they were nominated for and won several “Best New Group” awards on top of that.

U promotions showed a unique side of the members not seen in Korea. Because of the language gap the members could not freely speak. Usually active members Kyuhyun and Ryeowook were nicknamed the “Silent twins”, and Ryeowook is still called out on programs for spacing out during recording. Normally serious member Siwon showed more and more of his playful side, and silent and reserved member Hangeng finally found his voice in China. Donghae rose to the language barrier and used it as a way to flirt with the fans- with every introduction on a program he refers to them as his “darling babies”.

Super Junior- M’s popularity after “U” promotions was so high that they were invited to perform at the “Dream Concert”. Only 13 fans were further enraged when they were introduced as “Super Junior” and Henry and ZhouMi came out on stage amongst all Super Junior members (see Rant #1- Only 13 Controversy for details on the issue).

The MV features future F(x) leader Victoria as the lead girl.

Me- Super Junior- M

This song was released with SJM’s “U” promotions, but it continued to gain popularity even during “SuperGirl” promotions.

Lyrics:
The song is about loving someone and how wonderful it is to be with them. It is a song dedicated to Super Junior- M’s fans. the word “Me” in the song can be taken as meaning “Me” such as in English, or the Chinese 迷 , which is pronounced as “me” and means “fan” (as in a fanclub member, not the inanimate object). The song is very happy and upbeat.
“I will quietly pray/ to see your smile once again/ It’s gonna be (迷) Me/ throw away your troubles and run/ It’s gonna be (迷) me/ listen to my real heartbeats/ pull you into my arms/ what is more important/ wonderful like a fairy tale/ it’s gonna be (迷) me/ want to tightly grab you/ it’s gonna be (迷) me/ the omen of happiness/ will be known the next second/ at least touch the wet edges of your eyes/ sleeping quietly next to me/ it’s gonna be (迷) me“

Dancing:
The dance for this is very cute and easy. It starts with air guitars and pretty much holds the same attitude through to the end. It’s very light and cute.

Story
There isn’t really a story to this MV. The members each find a giant letter and bring them together to spell “Super Junior M”, but it isn’t really a story so much as tricking the members into setting the set up themselves.

Other Interesting Things
This was filmed at the same time as “U”. I think it is the only time I’ve seen a group use the same costumes for two music videos. It was released only shortly after “U” and is still considered a debut music video, hence them spelling out the band name.

There is a Korean and Chinese version to this music video. The Korean and Chinese have no real differences in set, but when the members are in pairs the member dancing to the one singing changes moves between the two videos. You’d have to watch to understand.

Korean Version

Chinese Version

Korean Version With English Subtitles

Chinese Version With English Subtitles

Lollipop- F(x)

I know this song is a commercial for something, but I don’t know what.

**Review Amended: It is a CF for the LG Lollipop in China (A cell phone), I mention later in the review what it is for, I just wanted to say here too in case there is any confusion**

Lyrics:
The song is about how candy can make life happier. Come to think of it, I think this might be a CF for a candy store. It is all about candy and love. The lyrics are repetitive and don’t have much content. It wasn’t like Chocolate Love, this was purely a commercial, and they haven’t performed it live from what I know. The song is in Chinese, the only song F(x) has sung in that language so far.
“The sweet, sweet lollipop/ oh lollipop oh lollipop oh/ the sweet, sweet lollipop/ oh lollipop oh lollipop oh/ the sweet, sweet lollipop/ oh lollipop oh lollipop oh/ the sweet sweet lollipop oh lollipop oh lolli~“

Dancing:
The dance is as repetitive as the song. It is clearly split between F(x) and the Chinese boy group they recorded with (I don’t know their name).

Story:
It is a CF, so there is no story here.

Other Interesting Things
The song features Amber and Victoria on vocals for the most part. This makes total sense: Victoria (the leader) is from China and Amber is Taiwanese-American.

I REALLY hate Sulli’s wig. The one that is short brown hair which is frizzy to the point of almost having an afro. Also, Luna’s hat is kind of huge~ I would be worried she could injure the other members. I really like Victoria and Amber’s styles here though, and the bunny ears, while odd, look cute on Luna.

The second link has English subtitles, but if you stay after the MV is a kind of Behind the Scenes. You really just hear the song again and see shots of them all filming it. Apparently it was a commercial for another LG phone. I still like Chocolate Love better though.