Announcement- TVXQ/DBSK Reviews

I’m tagging this in the “Reviews By Artist” section so that anyone looking can find it easily later.

I’ve been trying to decide how to handle the return of TVXQ, at least as far as organization goes. I’ve decided to just post it here the same way I saved it in my MV collection.

**DBSK MUSIC VIDEO REVIEWS**
Will be reviews of MV’s that include all or most of the 5 original members of DBSK/TVXQ. This means YUNHO, JAEJOONG, MICKEY, JUNSU AND CHANGMIN all appear in the MV.

**TVXQ MUSIC VIDEO REVIEWS**
Will be reviews of MV’s which ONLY INCLUDE YUNHO AND CHANGMIN (and anyone featured in the MV with them).

Why split the two?

Technically DBSK/TVXQ are the same group as before, just with 3 less members. Their entire style and process is different now though, and while it is the same two from the previous group I’m still going to count it as a new unit. I recognize they are just continuing with the two members, but for organizational sakes I split them into two categories. I hope that doesn’t bother anyone, but if you’re a hardcore fan and that distinction between the two groups bothers you… well… I guess that’s too bad…

Hug (English Version)- Dong Bang Shin Ki

Omo~! do you have any idea how hard it was to find this MV??? I suggest you download it as soon as possible if you want it, since it’s been disappearing from YouTube at a rather epic rate. Since it was recorded as Tohoshinki (see Dong Bang Shin Ki’s Artist Profile for that explanation) SM doesn’t upload it on their YouTube page and since it is old and therefore before their official foray into the Japanese market AVEX doesn’t upload it either~

Lyrics:
Just like the Korean version (Which I didn’t review, I’m really lacking in english subbed DBSK videos~) this song is a confession of love for the girl they love. They talk about being unable to keep quiet about their feelings. I have to say that the English is a little choppy and there are some issues with it not fitting together well. The Grammar is fine, but they repeat some phrases back to back in an effort to match the rhythm of the original song, but I think they did a pretty good job… It just has that sound to it like the person who translated it was not a native English speaker… I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s good, but it isn’t a natural cross over between languages like their other songs. It’s kind of an awkward translation. And there are a lot of extra words that aren’t needed… And one phrase doesn’t make sense (the last in the chorus).
“Whenever you look in my eyes/ there are so many smiles in the Earth (it is either “In the earth” or “in there”)/ I was born to love/ feel so deep inside/ if you need me I’ll be your man/ whenever you look in my eyes/ I do want to show you my love/ I make up my mind/ make your dreams come true/ nobody can stop me to say/ I love you”

Dancing
DBSK sometimes dances, meaning they usually dance but the MVs usually feature the members standing still. This is a still one, but to be perfectly fair the Korean Version was also stationary. I think for the set they used (a large concert hall where they stand in the center) they really should have been dancing… But oh well.

Story
There isn’t a story to this MV, it is purely shots of the members, and absolutely nothing else. So visually it is kind of repetitive and dull, especially since they are using like 2 sets only, but I think this was a kind of half-MV, meaning they put all their work into the Korean Version and this one was kind of made last minute when they released this album in Japan. I guess I mean to say it doesn’t feel as sincere an MV as any of their others.

Other Things
You can tell they spent a lot of time working on pronunciation. Even though the English is really sketchy (I think the phrase “Nobody can stop me to say I love you” is a mistranslation that was supposed to be more like “Nobody can stop me from saying I love you”) and there are a lot of unnecessary words (“I do want to show you my love” can just be “I want to show you my love”) the English is understandable and very clear. They did a great job. Usually when groups do English songs they can only pull them off if they have an English-speaking member in the group, and since DBSK has Mickey (Who lived in Virginia for a while, or as Junsu says it “Ver-gina”) they had that extra boost.

I like the song, I really do. Not as much as the Korean version, but it’s nice to hear DBSK and be able to understand them without having to worry about subtitles. I think they should have used one of the English-speaking trainees at SM Entertainment to double-check everything (but this was around 2005 and at that point the only English trainee they might have had would be Jessica or Tiffany from SNSD).

DBSK is kind of a funny group, and you see a bit of that here. They are really great at singing. They are really great and dancing. They are really bad at lip-sync. It’s kind of  an epic thing in their MVs, especially with this one being in a foreign language. That is something they really needed to work on as a group. But now that they are disbanded I guess it isn’t really an issue~

Show Me Your Love- Dong Bang Shin Ki and Super Junior

Anyone who has seen really any program with an SM Entertainment band knows that the senior band helps to promote the younger band early on. For example: Super Junior members hosted a lot of the early shows with SNSD in them to help promote their sister group, and SHINee has been helping to promote F(x). Well, this video is Dong Bang Shin Ki promoting Super Junior, who had debuted 1 month before this was released.

Lyrics:
The song is about being in love with a girl, and wanting her to show that she is in love with them too. They repeatedly ask her to show her love so they can be a couple.
“Just show me your love (show me your love)/ words I want to say to you/ are so many/ just for today, look at me/ in my eyes I’ll be holding you/ I’ll go anywhere (go anywhere)/ in your warm eyes/ I’m falling in/ I’m just happy having you near me/ during this winter that has silently approached”

Dancing
There is no coordinated dance for this song, probably because Super Junior members and DBSK members total 17, and the set they used was not large enough.

Story
There isn’t a story to the MV itself. It was filmed at Lotte World when it was decorated for Christmas, so the set is very much that of a winter wonderland.

Other Interesting Things
This song is part of a special Christmas album featuring the two groups.

Like I said, DBSK helped to promote Super Junior after debut. The MV combines the two groups, with no one shot being just DBSK or Super Junior.

The groups in the MV are built around real-life relationships between the members of DBSK and Super Junior, many of whom grew up together. DBSK member Jaejoong and SJ member Yesung were friends before they joined SM Entertainment ( I think they were from the same hometown). Super Junior member Donghae is close friends with DBSK leader Yunho, who is from the same city and was his first friend in SM Entertainment. DBSK member Junsu and SJ member Eunhyuk also are featured, as the two are from the same hometown, were best friends since elementary school, and even auditioned together for SM Entertainment.

This is the only MV in which SM groups help promote one another, and it became very popular. They refer to Super Junior as the “new family”.

My Destiny- Dong Bang Shin Ki/ Tohoshinki

Ok, so technically this is a Tohoshink MV and, as I explained in the Artist Profile for Dong Bang Shin Ki, they are two different groups. Also, it is in Japanese, not Korean. In my defense I have only 3 music videos in my whole collection that are Japanese, and I won’t create a whole new category for them. So I tagged the MV with the singers home country.

Lyrics:
The song is about loosing the girl you love. No matter how they try to move on their hearts are still broken. The lyrics talk about wishing they could forget the girl, but they are just unable to. It is kind of your typical broken heart song. I really like it though.
“You know that my heart’s beating for you/ Another way, another lie/ I believed in fate innocently/ but living without your love/ we had to go back/ but I still wanted to hold your hand/ with memories it’s fading, my destiny”

Dancing
There isn’t much dancing in this MV. Normally I would talk about how DBSK is a dance group that for some reason hardly dances in their MVs, but there is a reason this one is particularly void of group dances. As you might notice in the areas where a group dance is actually happening a member is missing. Member Jaejoong (the one leaning against the phone booth) either tore a ligament in his knee just before filming or got into a car accident. He was injured during the filming of two different music videos, I am not sure which injury went with this MV. That is also why there are group shots of the members sitting together- to include him.

Story:
There isn’t a story with this one. The members are each standing alone (well, two are in a church at the same time) and are singing while alone. One member makes no sense: Mickey. He is the one sitting alone in the room with a cane and hat and shadows rolling around him. Don’t get me wrong, that is my favorite shot, I just don’t understand it when it is compared to the other members shots, Mickey’s is the only abstract one.

Other Interesting Things
I really do like this song, and the music video is good when you realize they were trying to film with an unexpectedly injured member. The director probably got more than one headache from this, but it turned out well.

Why Did I Fall In Love With You?- Dong Bang Shin Ki

Ok, since this song is in Japanese I shouldn’t be tagging it as a Korean MV, but the band is Korean, and I don’t have any other MVs to put in the Japanese section. I’m not creating a whole section for the MVs of one group, sorry! Technically since this song is in Japanese it isn’t by Dong Bang Shin Ki, but by Tohoshinki, which is under a different company is is for all intents and purposes a completely separate group, but the members are exactly the same, so I’m counting them as Dong Bang Shin Ki. See the Artist Profile for an explanation on that if you’re confused.

Lyrics: 4/5
Everybody looses a point! I really like this song, and it is one of my favorites for the group. You might remember my review of “A Friend’s Confession” by 2AM, the song about loving your friend and begging them to see it. Well, I mentioned in that review several songs of that type came out around the same time, and this is one of them. Hence “Everybody looses a point”. There is one other MV I have from the same period, and that is going to loose a point on the lyrics as well. This song really isn’t something to listen to if you want to be happy. It’s completely depressing. The song is about loving someone with all your heart, but then that person falls in love with someone else, and they are miserable, asking themselves why they ever fell in love.
“Why did I fall in love with you?/ No matter how much time has passed/ I still always thought you would be right here/ But you have already chosen a path that is different/ Why could I not get through to you at all?/ The feelings get stronger each day and night/ And words overflow/ But I have realized/ they would never reach you again”

Dance: NA
This group usually dances at least in part of their MVs, but there is no dancing for this sad song.

Story: 5/5
Good god, it’s more depressing than the song! The story starts with a boy and girl standing on a bridge together talking. The girl and boy stand together in silence, then she says “I am getting married”. You can tell she wants the boy to protest, to say he loves her, but he just says he hopes they will be happy and walks away. You get further flashbacks to the two meeting in class, she sat next to him. They were friends for a long time, then she started dating and eventually got married. Throughout the ceremony she keeps looking to him, and he tries to smile to him. Seriously, you can tell they both want each other, but it is too late.

Other Interesting Things
I don’t know what to say. As usual, I have the MV playing on my computer on repeat while I write this review, and I’m just getting more and more depressed~ I really like sad songs though.

One thing I would like to note: the expressions on the DBSK members are excellent. Usually they are good with the song, but seem a little flat. The members Micky and Jaejoong are perfect (the first two to sing). Max (the tenor) needs some serious help, he should stop smiling like he’s singing a happy love song. The other two, Yunho and Junsu, are pretty close, but Micky and Jaejoong are really perfect.

Tri-Angle- DBSK, TRAX, BoA

This song was mainly performed by DBSK, but label-mates TRAX and BoA also performed in the song and on live stages.

Lyrics: 5/5
I swear this song inspired Super Junior’s Don’t Don on some level. It has the exact same message and feel~ which isn’t a bad thing! The song is about how people have become so hard-hearted and cold that they no longer care for one another and the world is falling apart because of it. It isn’t about living through the pain, like Don’t Don, but it is about loosing hope and just begging things to return to the way they were.
“Hardened hearts cause tears of blood/ Now what do I have to motivate myself?/ Like the existence of the beautiful things in life/ The hopes in our hearts for the future are dead”

Dancing: 4/5
You don’t get to see too much of it, which is why I took a point off. DBSK is supposed to be a dance group, but for some reason in a lot of their MVs they just stand still and you don’t get to see much of the actual group dance. What is there, however, is brilliant and perfectly together.

Story: 2~/5
I’m kind of wavering on what to put for the story rating here. There is a story in the lyrics, that is usually the case, but I’m not sure if there is a story in the MV. You see each group inside this same floating building, with BoA being an angel (I think) and TRAX being in the basement (maybe they are supposed to be in hell~). I think this could represent that DBSK (who sing most of the song) are on earth caught between the rising devils of TRAX and the sinking angel that is BoA? If so, it is a good story, but they need to make it clearer. I’m thinking this through as I type, so if something doesn’t make sense, that’s why ^^.  If there is no story just pretend there is a big NA where the rating is.

Other Interesting Things
This MV was filmed middle of winter. In the behind the scenes you see the DBSK members (who are all wearing very little clothing) huddling together to stay warm or over stage lights. Since most of them are wearing thin very thin clothing, and one has thick metal bands on his fingers, I feel sorry for them!