The Girl Without a Face Japanese Manga Thoughts

 

   I don't know much about Tearontaron as an author but I picked up his/her's manga titled The Girl Without a Face by chance. I'm not sure if this is the author's first manga or not but the art stood out to me. Also, the manga is a one shot; making me more inclined to buy a physical copy. 

   A human boy has a girlfriend that he spends everyday with. He loves her so much that he gave up living in the human world to be with her. They only problem is...... SHE DOESN'T HAVE A FACE. 

      This manga is comprised of many short stories revolving around the strange relationship between a human guy and a Yokai. These stories are very simple but have parts that are cute. Maybe even funny considering the idea that dating a no face girl isn't normal. She doesn't have a mouth which means she can't talk and her actions are weirdly cute . However, the sweet part of this manga is the boyfriends ability to understand his girlfriend even without normal communication. Plus you start to get used to their relationship dynamic, causing the girl to feel more and more human. Both their love for each other actually was strong enough in the story to make you visualize what her facial expression would look like if she had one. Most of the book is told from the boyfriend's view point. Then toward the end, the view point switches to the faceless girl. The Girl Without a Face is really just a slice of life manga that mixes in supernatural elements lightly as a world builder. If you give this manga a read, you will be going"awww" ing all the way to the last page. 

    The art has a youthful Shoujo look to the drawings. I wouldn't call this manga a shojo manga completely but it has a lot of romance that's amplified in the big round face of the boyfriend. The world of Yokai kinda blends into the background then comes forward when the two are walking around the neighborhood. I liked how the festival and lake scenes were presented as scenery in the story. Art is the big factor that make stores like these even work. 

    Some people might be put off by a story about a girl missing a face. I'll tell you that the story isn't scary at all. You will get cavities from the sweet moments more than anything else. ENJOY!!!  

DPR Ian - Moodswings in This Order Album Thoughts(K-indie)

 

   DPR Ian is an artists that I've run across a couple of times on the intterwebs but he didn't really appeal to me as an artists. I've seen his instagram lives while wondering why he was popular. Then I searched him up only to find that he was a member of the departed boyband idol group C-CLOWN. I knew f this group but I would be lying if I said that they weren't forgettable among the ton of other Korean Kpop boybands at the time. Fast forward to the current times, DPR Ian has come into his own as a solo artist under the DPR label. His music hits a certain part of the human soul even if he hasn't released much vocal material. His first real album is called Moodswings in This Order. This album comes after the compilation album titled Achieves. 

Track List:
01. MITO
02. So Beautiful
03. Dope Lovers
04. No Blueberries (Feat. DPR LIVE, CL)
05. Nerves
06. Scaredy Cat
07. Welcome To The Show
08. No Silhouette

   

   Since DPR Ian came off to me as more of an instrumental producer than a vocalist, elements of this come across strong in his music. The production has many components holding together the overall sound but a lot of the times, the vocals could use a bit more careful planning. I can her the creative artistry in each track. It's just that the vocals come on and leave much more to be desired. We can exclude the title tracks though. Some of Ian's best creative juices seemed to have started flowing while writing and laying down the tracks So Beautiful, Scaredy Cat, and No Blueberries. CL(formally of 2NE1) doesn't sound like her normal self at all which is a good thing. I believe many fans will like this more mature side of her vocals. Welcome to the Show could have also been a title track settling for instead being buried at the end of the album. The tracks smooth acoustic flare at the beginning of the chorus sets up the dramatic pop beat that's loudly in tune with Ian's sorrowful whaling. Overall, Moodswings wasn't as impressive as I hoped the album would be. His songs do however take me back to college days where students would play around in the a studio for fun but would mess around and create something amazing. I would pick out the songs you like the most instead of keeping the whole album. Oh, His songs are mostly in English if that counts for something. 

    DPR Ian sounds like an alternative pop RnB vocalist. Then, he sounds like he's covering the band The Killers. It's weird to me. I honestly don't think that he has found the musical style that really represents him yet. I'm not sure who he is yet. I'll wait around a little while to find out though. You might like his music or DPR LIVE so check them out if you want. 

The Swordsman(검객) Korean Film Thoughts(2020)

    

    The Swordsman is a 2020 South Korean film directed by Choi Jae Hoon and starring Veteran actor Jang Hyuk. The film was postponed in South Korea due to COVID-19 but soon was released to medium success. The film was also soon licensed to many countries for release. 

   The strongest swordsman in the land lives quietly with his adopted daughter after failing to save the king years before. His daughter is soon kidnapped by slave traders and he must save her all while going blind due to an injury from that same battle years before. 

   This script is supposed to be based on true events but all I see is a rehashed version of Rurouni Kenshin. I'll try not to compare films too much since one film is from Japan and this film is Korea's history during the Ming Qing Dynasty. A lot of the film introduces a ton of characters who don't make your viewing experience any better. You instead feel bogged down by all the different faces. Our main character doesn't even get as much screen time as I felt that he deserves. There were times that I wanted to know more about the leading hero but was forced to sit through endless scenes of two kingdoms quarreling with each other. the trailer for the film actually leads viewers to believe that The Swordsman is more high action than what the film really is. Swordplay is passable however, if you have watched other samurai films from East Asia, What The Swordsman brings isn't all that spectacular. I did enjoy the swordplay toward the middle section of the film. Rurouni Kenshin's films knock the Swordsman way out the water though. Especially in high speed sword effects that this film can't touch at all. South Korea writes characters that have strong emotional connections between each which is what I enjoyed about the story involving the daughter and the film's ending that reveals answers that tie everything together nicely. I also have to correct wrong information about the summery of The Swordsman: He's not blind in the film. His eyes give him constant trouble but he is still able to see through the whole film. I thought that he might go blind during one of the major fights but that doesn't happen. Overall, South Korea did a lukewarm job of trying to imitate Rurouni Kenshin's vigor while changing a few details to not get a lawsuit from Japan. We could go even farther to say this film took another Japanese film called Ichi's whole idea. Ichi is also a much better film than The Swordsman in my opinion.

   I don't have much to say about the performances because they weren't ground breaking. Can we talk about the random white girl that was in all her glory as a prop? I wonder how much they paid her. At least her kill scene was exciting..... I mostly tuned in for Jang Hyuk and he gave a decent performance. Though, he kinda overdid acting like he was blind when the character still had vision. 

      The Swordsman is a film that you might like to watch when you have nothing else to do. It's a film that has good things going for it but you won't be floored by what you see if you have experience with East Asian cinema. 

Aina The End(アイナ・ジ・エンド) - THE END Album Thoughts(J-Pop Rock)

      

     Aina The End is the leader of girl idol group Bish.  The group is under WACK record label which is known for producing anti idols to combat the normal idol image in the Japanese entertainment industry. Bish was a replacement for the first generation group Bis who has gone through more changes than a screen on a building in Tokyo. Bish ended up becoming more popular than any of Wack's previous groups. I believe Aina is the first singer from the label to actually have a solo album. 

01 金木犀
02 虹
03 NaNa
04 粧し込んだ日にかぎって
05 ハロウ
06 きえないで
07 日々
08 STEP by STEP
09 静的情夜
10 死にたい夜にかぎって
11 サボテンガール
12 スイカ

     The End has a lot going for the compilation as the song roll out spanned over a couple weeks and each song got a music video. Most fans of Bish know that this girl can stand on her own two feet alone. When she's performing with Bish, There's no doubt in figuring out she's the leader. She tends to sing the loudest out of all the other members. Plus there's something about her that sets the tone of the group. Her solo album has this same tone that exerts darkness. However, she also reminds everyone that she's also still technically an idol singer. The End switch from on theme to another. Bish's hard rock sound is the forefront driver for the album most times. I enjoyed how each song that was more rock alternative eased into the band break out sections in the track, giving each track a hard punch in the listener's ear. Other tracks grant the aid of softer piano instrumentals creating a lighter pop sound though her ballads might be a bit more rememberable. The way the instrumentals are produced to blend well into her vocals is almost hypnotic. With all of this being said, The album has hits and misses. The End suffers from too much of a good thing. There's a lot of ballads that don't add more to the excitement that the first couple ballads you heard. They're not bad but most fans didn't come here for an Aina who  to caters to everyone. We came for the wild Aina who's crude, weird, and can sing well. The End gives what fans of Bish want just with a little extra fluff that you may or may not enjoy. 

    Aina's vocals are like being wrapped up in a warm blanket. Then you realize that you're bleeding and you notice that the in between the threads in the blanket, there's thorns. Her vocals are in a category away from other Japanese singers. When you hear her music, you know automatically that it's her.  

I.M.아이엠 (MONSTA X) - Duality Mini Album Thoughts(K-RnB,Rap)

     

   The second rapper of idol group Monsta X known as I.M. released his first solo album digitally out of nowhere. Fans(including myself) didn't see the release coming and got blindsided by a Music Video. JooHeon is the guy who has released the most solo work so far out of al the members unless you want to count dearly departed Wonho..... Oh, Oops..... There's his mixtape too that slipped my mind.  Anyway, I.M.'s mini album is called Duality. 

Track List:
01. God Damn *Title
02. Howlin’
03. Burn
04. Happy to Die
05. 시든 꽃 (flower-ed)

       God Damn opens the album for fans who came running to listen after the music video's release. The track sets a theme for the whole album which could be described as a mixture between melodic Rap and Pop RnB. I believe that this sound is a whole vibe that fits I.M.'s artistry since he kind of lives in Jooheon's shadow performance wise in my opinion. He breaks out on his won here as the album gives different feels through each track that hits hard every time. I enjoyed the tinkering of the piano behind the beat during God Damn or the Organ that blends perfectly on Burn. However, I wasn't too impressed with Duality's efforts to show that I.M. can shine on his own. Some of the stand out tracks like, Happy To Die and Burn give I.M. flowing in a melody rap zone but the overall result isn't groundbreaking at all. Many fans can love this album on the fact that this is I.M. who is a rapper from a popular Kpop group. Even the vibe that the mini album gives is enjoyable. Outside of that, Duality sounds like influence from American popular music's compost bin at it's core. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up to you to decide. I for one won't remember this album after a few weeks.... Scratch that. I'll remember God Damn as a title track at least. Same thing happened for me when Jooheon's last solo album came out. I really only bump Smokey weeks later. 

    I'm trying to figure out if I.M.'s case was that he wasn't supposed to be a rapper but they assigned him the role due to the fact that he has a deep voice. His situation confuses me..... Sometimes he seems like he was a singer that turned to Rap. He could have been neither.... Certain Idols got in on their image then the company just trains them to be a vocalist/singer to the best of their abilities. This might sound shady but I actually love the energy I.M. and JooHeon bring to Monsta X together as a unit.  I know that Monsta X was formed on a" making the band" program....... So a unit album from the two would be cool.