Tag Archives: exo-k

More news on To The Beautiful You + my thoughts on the cast.

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I’m officially ready to watch this drama now. It comes out in about a week and a half so I can probably get an episode in before school starts. I started making a cast guide but never got around to updating it. Thankfully, someone else did. If I would have actually taken the time to update mine, it wouldn’t have taken me long really. Just in case anyone is too lazy to click the link I’ve provided, here’s the cast as provided here.

Choi Minho as Kang Taejoon (Sano Izumi)

Choi Sulli as Goo Jaehee (Mizuki Ashiya)

Lee Hyun Woo as Cha Eun-gyeol (Nakatsu Shuichi)

Ki Tae-young as Jang Min-woo (Dr. Umeda)

Seo Jun young as Ha Seung-ri (Nanba Minami) *DORM 2 LEADER

Hwang Kwang-hee as Song Jong-min (Nakao)

Yoo Min Kyu as Young-mahn (Megumi Tennoji) *DORM 1 LEADER

Kim Ee An as Na Chul Soo (Oscar M. Himejima) *DORM 3 LEADER

Kang Ha-neul as Joo Ji-cheol (Makoto Kagurazaka)

Honey Lee as the President of the school

Ahn Hye-kyung as Yang Seo-yoon (Akiha Hara)

Julien Kang as Daniel (Mizuki’s brother from America)

Sungwoo Jae Duk as Tae Jun’s father

EXO - students at the school

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There’s not much I can really say about the cast honestly since I’ve only watched two maybe three Korean dramas and haven’t heard of 3/4 of the cast. I can see EXO will definitely be there for eye candy, which I can’t complain about. This is supposed to be Ikemen Paradise after all. The guy who is playing Nakatsu, Lee Hyun Woo, I hear is a great actor though his hair isn’t doing him any justice. I’m not at all sure why there is another main female character, but I’m guessing it’s an additional thing this remake is adding. Maybe to get more depth to the plot. Hopefully that proves to be more good than bad. Speaking about adding things in and whatnot, I really really really hope they leave Dr. Umeda and Nakao‘s characters as be. I didn’t see anything about Kayashima’s character, who was my favorite after Nanba and Nakatsu lol maybe not my absolute favorite. Before I heard about L playing his character, which I would have liked, but there’s been no word since.

Kpop Comments of the Day: 4.17.2012 {Fans reactions to AKP review of ‘MAMA’}

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My readers know I’ve been following EXO pretty extensively and it was prety obvious that EXO didn’t meet my expectations. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt like this because I read several reviews about people feeling similar to me. As usual AKP reviewed ‘MAMA’ and gave it a 3.8/5 and there were quite a few mixed reactions which I found pretty funny. Why? Some people are just delusional by claiming EXO has had the best debut to date. I agree with it, sounds like a pretty accurate score based on the overexposure to EXO we had. But here are some highlights from the review:

“MAMA” is your typical SM super-performance single but fit for 2012. Let’s ignore the fact that it reminds us of TVXQ‘s and Super Junior‘s early days because everything about the production here is awesome. Though a bit over compressed with the vocals and string work, it provides that much needed room for the explosive drum work that drives the track.

There’s a lot going in the track, but everything seems nicely contained under the confines of a track being played at a Korean department store. The listening experience isn’t off-putting or overwhelming, but still packs a punch.

“Into Your World (Angel)” is the token fan favorite of the album. This is the least aggressive track in ‘MAMA”s bundle of aggressive power pop anthems.

Without the drawn on tattoos and bondage stage-wear, they’re young, innocent looking rookies, and “Angel” just seems to be the most believable track on the record. Not only that, the song is just really easy on the ears too with the soothing vocal delivery and relatively light percussion.

“Two Moons” is a display of “Hey we were trained to rap well, too.” Of course, there’s a lot more to rapping than what can be taught, so we can’t really shelve this one under Hip-Hop. But as a pop song, it’s pretty damn catchy with some great hooks. Oh yeah, SHINee‘s Key is featured on it, too, spitting out English verses, adding to the fun. Additionally, the whole two moons theme here is a great play on the backstory provided in the ‘MAMA’ music video.The general delivery and overall idea of “Two Moons” is awesome, but with its canned stock sound “HEY” samples, and less-than-satisfying bass, it doesn’t stand out from your everyday K-Pop song

Even though we’re given this extravagant and lavish visual of the boys, their debut album seems to be a collection of SM hand-me-downs. That doesn’t mean the album is bad, but it’s really hard to put your finger on what SM is going for with EXO. But based on what we’re given, SM’s concept for EXO concept is simply that they’re better than everyone. I mean, with all those teaser videos, they were literally flaunting their cash-heavy productions, taunting those D-List entertainment companies scraping for enough cash for a couple of pre-recorded performances on Music Bank. So I guess for now, that’ll have to define EXO for us. EXO is a group full of handsome young boys with a black belt in K-Pop performance arts and super expensive music/videos.

Like everyone else, I am impressed by EXO, but I can’t help but feel that ‘MAMA’ is  just a big ol’ teaser altogether for something that could be even better.

The SHINee part of EXO K + review on “MAMA”

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I really wasn’t trying to review their album but it’s happening now. There’s ton of these out there but it can’t hurt to add another. I had listened to half the album and I wasn’t planning on listening to the rest of it but today I somehow got around to doing it. I doubt it’ll be as thorough as my SHINee Sherlock one, but you never know.

I have to talk about the teasers, this wouldn’t be a review without talking about the teasers. Since December the excitement and anticipation for EXO was built up. Fans were gained, fans were lost and I teetered between the two. It was around February that I officially considered myself a  fan and my like-dislike relationship with Kai grew to a special fondness. News finally broke out in April that officially, on the 9th, EXO would be making their debut and fans wouldn’t have to endure anymore of those teasers.

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Their title track, MAMA, is definitely a hit or miss. You either loved it from the beginning, or you questioned its existence. I for one was on the questioning side. I wasn’t too fond of the song in the beginning, it didn’t have that repetitive chorus that made the song easier to learn. And the song is not my genre of music so even to this day, it will never make it on my iPod.

The video is a completely different story though. I can’t say I loved the video but it was definitely interesting. The first minute and the half is pointless, honestly. I acknowledge the attempt of trying something new however I don’t think it was executed well. The video is much better without it. Overall the best way I can describe the video is dark. It’s kind of eerie with the chants and robes (if that’s what they are, if not forgive me). The effects were nice though, they added an addition wow factor to the video.

Watching the video a third time, the choreography grew on me. Before I preferred History’s choreo over MAMA’s but I can appreciate MAMA’s in its entirety because there were some highlights within the dance. However what didn’t grow on me, is that face paint on Kai. Still a no no in my book. It looks much better in EXO M. However the dance during that part is my favorite so I guess that saves Kai.

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I’m going to try not to discuss how useless I think these singles being called “prologue” singles are. That’s one of the reasons why MAMA didn’t have such an impact on me that it should have had. Since I had already experience two of EXO’s singles, I got a real good idea of EXO so I feel like I saw them already and MAMA didn’t bring anything new but a different genre.

But back to the song. This song is gorgeous, loving the vocals completely. I don’t really have anything bad to say (that’s what the power of ballads does to me.). If anything, the video was pretty pointless in my opinion. It seemed like a big compilation of the teasers to me.

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I like to consider this their first real music video. I actually would have been more than content with them debuting with History. In the beginning, I was not too fond of the song but it definitely grew on me. It has the catchy chorus, which makes the song easier to pick up on unlike MAMA, and the choreography is fresh and unique. I think the reason why it wasn’t picked as  a title track was because it would have been too generic of a debut song.

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I’ve heard this song twice and this was why I made the review. It’s the closest thing besides What is Love, to Baby Don’t Cry, in my opinion. There’s one part in the chorus that I just love the way its sung and that’s what sold me on the song. No complaints here besides the fact that I hear about three maybe four voices and I’m sure EXO K has six members.

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I am strangely addicted to this song. It seems to follow under MAMA’s sound, away from a ballad. It lacks actual singing, which is a classic case for me to dislike but I’m perfectly fine with it in this song. I thought possibly Key would sound out of place here, but he blends in perfectly, almost like the seventh member of EXO K.

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The whole time I listened to this song, I couldn’t stop thinking it was really SHINee singing. It’s such a SHINee like song that it sounds out of place on the album. I think the other songs on the album actually established a EXO sound and this song didn’t sound like the sound they began to establish for themself. Except the rap, it was not SHINee like at all.

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All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed the album even though the two tracks I really wanted were not on the album. I still believe the album is suffering an identity crisis with all the different genres in the album. The album wasn’t as cohesive as I would have liked, but then again, I have to remember they are rookies. Do I think they lived up to the hype created? No, not at all. However I definitely recommend anyone who is interested in trying out EXO to give them a try.

Only one question for EXO’s ‘debut’.

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Technically they don’t debut till tomorrow. But their title track, MAMA, left me with just one question.

Why is the  video six minutes long?

I think the first minute and a half was a waste of time. The video can progress without it. Besides the beginning which bored me to death, I really liked the video. I’ve already came to the conclusion that EXO will always impress me with their dancing, they are just on point with that. The special effects make the video great but if you strip that away, it’s a generic debut. But about 2/3 of the way through the video, it started freaking me out.

But the song, not feeling. It’s probably because it is not my kind of genre. I would have been a bit happier if they debuted with History because this song just isn’t memorable to me.

I haven’t followed a group this extensively since DBSK.

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Sorry for the lack of posts, I’ve been quite busy with school. It’s that time again, the wonderful process of studying for AP exams. So as a head up my posts will be less frequent.

Anyway, I am all over EXO. Seriously. I never noticed how deep some of their voices were, especially Kris’s.

I am disappointed with EXO.

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  1. Mama
  2. What is Love
  3. History
  4. Angel
  5. Two Moons
  6. Machine

The two tracks that would have made me so happy, Baby Don’t Cry and My Lady are not on the mini album. I would have actually bought the album if at least one of those singles were on the album. I’m sure they’ll be on a repacked album or a full length album soon. What I find very interesting is how two of the singles have already been introduced to us, What is Love and History.

Which means calling them prologue singles was useless.

Why EXO-K succeeded in making me a fan.

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From the beginning when no one even knew how many members of EXO there would be, you could classify me as a “cautious fan”. I followed 2011 pretty extensively and I was tired of all those debuts from mediocre groups that I’m never going to see again. When I heard that SM would be debuting a group I had a bit more faith but I was still cautious. So here, I shall walk you through my road to becoming a fan of EXO-K.

First teaser with Kai. I personally didn’t find him too attractive then and all the teaser displayed was his dancing skills. Not that I had a problem with that, but I’m more of a “captivate me with your vocals” kind of girl.

Second teaser with Kai and Se Hun. More dancing and another member.

Third teaser with Tao. I found this to be a pointless teaser still to this day. And once again, dancing.

Fourth teaser with Kai, again. I’m thinking here hmmm he must be pretty popular if they are showing him in two teasers. And no surprise here, even more dancing. But I have a soft for the song and I really hope it’s on the album.

Fifth teaser with you know who, Kai. We’ve made it into 2012 and all I see is Kai. At this point I start to lose faith in the group consisting of other guys besides Kai.

Sixth teaser with yup you guessed it, Kai. I didn’t even post about this because I was irritated that I was seeing Kai again.

Seventh teaser with Kai and Se Hun. I wanted some vocals now.

Eighth teaser with Se Hun. We finally learn that EXO doesn’t just consist of Kai and there will be a total of 12 members.

Ninth teaser. I stopped naming post and I question why EXO has nine teasers. But highlight, I finally got to hear some vocals.

Tenth teaser with Lay. It took me forever to realize that he was apart of EXO M. No Kai but no singing either.

Eleventh teaser with the Lovely Kai and Xiu Min. No comment, Kai returned.

twelfth teaser with Kai and Lay. I started running out of titles with Kai because I used his name so many times. Here started leaning the fence towards giving up on this group.

What is Love prologue single. The absolute turning point. Great vocals, my favorite part of a group + ballad like song = gaining a new fan.

Thirteenth teaser with Se Hun. Amazingly, I never got tired of this guy. He came in second for SM’s favorite member.

Fourteenth teaser with Kai, yes again. No post meaning I cared less about it. My beginning fondness of the group didn’t spread to Kai yet.

Fifteenth teaser with Tao. Another turning point. I began to appreciate the videos for their content and not the members in the teaser.

Sixteenth teaser with D.O. and Su Ho. Back to judging the teasers harshly. But I was introduced to my possible bias D.O.

Seventeenth teaser with Kris. Back to question what is SM thinking with seventeen teasers.

Eighteenth teaser with Kai. Big hint about me, I’m very sarcastic with the things I like. This post explains it all ^.^

Nineteenth teaser with Lay, Chen, and Baek Hyun. No comment as a result of being teased too long.

Twentieth teaser (oh yes we continue) with Chan Yeol. Official turning point. I started missing Kai. Meaning? Found my bias.

Twenty-first teaser with my bias Kai. Loved the song, loved the dance, no other comments.

Twenty-second teaser with Lay and Se Hun. I enjoyed my rant about the excessive teasers with EXO. They  definitely have the record. I don’t think anyone plans on challenging them.

Twenty-third teaser with Kai + other members secretly. This time, I continued my friendly sarcasm with Kai but focused on SM’s trademark pants.

History prologue single. If What is Love didn’t do it for me, History definitely did.

No 24?

Nope no 24. I know thankfully :) It took technically 25 teasers for me to officially claim to be a fan of EXO, more particularly EXO-K. As much as the majority of us complained about these teasers, to a certain extent we have to admit that those teasers made people very interested in EXO. You say you won’t watch another teaser and then you end up watching it. The way SM is marketing EXO is that they are going to definitely leave a long lasting impression on you. Maybe they’ll take DBSK’s spot for me, we’ll just have to wait and see.