(G)I-DLE (여자)아이들 - I NEVER DIE Mini Album Thoughts(K-pop)

    

   (G)I-DLE is a group that's been forever changing their style like a chameleon but always seems to bring a female empowered vibe to whatever they do. The women release when they want to and it's such spaces in between releases that I sometimes forget about them. I do still enjoy how some Kpop idol groups go back to the old way of releasing music where they make fans sort of miss them... I NEVER DIE is their newest mini album. 

Album Tracklist

TOMBOY
말리지 마 (Don’t Stop)
VILLAIN DIES
ALREADY
POLAROID
ESCAPE
LIAR
MY BAG

        (G)I-dle has a certain quality about them that gets buried under all the gimmicks that try to keep them in line with whats popular in South Korea at the moment. I wish that these women didn't have to do throw away tracks such as "My Bag". This fake street style that is used for fashion is old now and so is the over used hip hip infused genre. I NEVER DIE slides around wanting to be something fresh to an industry without actually taking the plunge to do so. Villain Dies as well as Tomboy are great examples of good ideas gone wrong for the machine which is Kpop. These tracks feel unfinished to degree that the punch needed to bring the overall sound home, can't find its way home. LIAR should have been the title track with it's dark pop slash "We will rock you" theme. All the women sound great on this track and the style fits them to a tee. Polaroid is another track that's a highlight on the mini album as a pop ballad. The track fits together with Liar perfectly since both tracks give the album that dark pop vibe that the concept photos were going for. Sadly, I NEVER DIE has less going for the whole body of work. Produces had a good sound. They just didn't know how to utilize it the correct way. 

    Vocals and Rap all fall in a mature sounding category for me. These women are one of the few female Kpop groups that actually sounds more like women than girls. I wish they had more opportunities in their music to shows listeners this though. 

    My final ruling is to just buy the individual tracks via download because the album isn't that good as a whole. Unless, you want to pay over thirty dollars for a photobook.... More power to you. 

Josee, The Tiger and The Fish(ジョゼと虎と魚たち) Japanese Anime Film Thoughts

   

   Josee, The Tiger and The Fish is a 2020-2021 film that was directed by Kotaro Tamura and written by Sayaka Kuwamura. Studio Bones produced the film as Nao Emoto drew the character models. The film was a success at the Japanese box office, coming in at ninth place. Many critics have also praised the film. Live adaptions were made in Japan(2002) and in South Korea. 

    A young man working himself to the bone to fulfill his dream of seeing the ocean outside Japan, has a chance meeting with a girl who can't walk. She's a person who also has dreams but they don't seem to go as far as her room...... 

   Bone studio visuals look stunning. They needed to be for an animated film that uses so many imaginative sequences. Art and undersea exploration are the films two main sources of visuals. You could almost reach into the screen to touch the fish while Character designs are very "Manga turned to Anime" style in a good way. Josee is one of the better or I might say best looking Anime films of last year.  

       This film is what I thought it would be. In fact, it was a bit more almost to the point that I didn't realize how much I missed anime films like this until after I watched it. There's the core base of romance(comedy too) in the plot however, even outside that, this film has a lot of heart. Motivation for the characters is making their dreams come true. Even if it means working yourself to death or facing criticism from loved ones. Another good subject Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish covers is people who are disabled. Josee is a character that has a ton of spunk that she uses to hide her fears. In some situations, she needs a helping hand but is afraid to ask for help outright. Many people are like this in the world and watching her made me think of people having too much pride, even people who use wheelchairs. Her defensive nature was worsened by the people who would just ignore her when she tried to ask as well. I did like how the film didn't try to dig deep into Josee's condition. We as the viewers don't know what disease she had that made her unable to walk nor does the film focus too heavy on trying to find out. I guessed that it was either ALS or she just was born with weak legs and hands. You're going to think a lot about reaching your goals no matter how hard it seems to get there as you watch Josee, The Tiger and The Fish. It's the kind of film that shows you a point of view from two sides of the coin. Alls well that ends well though if you watch all the ending credits. 

    I'm interested in watching both live action adaptions of Josee, The Tiger and The Fish. I don't know how these films got pass me but I will be checking them out. The Japanese live action came out before this film because the source material is a short story written by Seiko Tanabe.   

Detention(返校) Taiwanese Film Thoughts

   

   Detention is a 2019-2020 film that was directed by John Hsu and stars Gingle Wang, Jing Hua Tseng, and Fu Mengbo. This was Hsu's debut film and he ended up being earning multiple nominations. Mainland China banned the film from being shown due to government order however, the film saw huge success in Taiwan, Hong Kong, as well as other parts of East Asia. A television series of the same name was created on Netflix which tells the story a different way from the film. 

     Two students are punished after being in a book club that had books banned by the Chinese government during their martial law on Taiwan in the 1960s. They soon find themselves in a night mare version of their hillside school at night and unable to escape...... There in that place, they must face the  reality of their DETENTION. 

    This film's plot is based off a video game that resembles that of Japan's nightmare school horror called Corpse Party. The only difference is that Detention is based off Taiwan's real history period known as "The White Terror". Still, the plot deals with students suddenly stuck in a school while having to fight ghosts and puzzles to get out. I wouldn't say that Detention is a horror film. Instead, the plot falls on a thriller aspect with supernatural elements as the film shifts between two different time periods in the two character's backgrounds. When a director uses nonfictional events to support fear, that makes for a film that hits even closer to home for all that watch. It's that same concept with directors such as Jordan Peele; who constantly uses the Black American experience and history to create a raw depth to his films. Hsu did the same with Detention and it compels audiences to keep watching until the film's conclusion.  

   The characters are interesting enough to push the story outside of the supernatural elements. I enjoyed how the pasts of both characters was connected to how the nightmare version of the school behaved. Especially the mystery behind one character's memory loss. 

    I'm a fan of the film, that's for sure. I don't think I would play the game but I want to check out the TV show adaption when I have more time. 

AI - Dream Album Thoughts(J-Ballad,J-RnB,J-rap)

   

    AI is a quarter Italian and Japanese singer who has roots in California as well as Japan. She is known for being the first female artist to be signed to Japan's Def Jam music label. Her core style is  RnB, Hip Hop, Rap, and Ragge. AI's biggest hit to date is a ballad(titled STORY) however, the singer is coined one of the few artists that brought a real RnB sound to Japanese listeners in the early 2000s. Dream is her first album in five years.

1. アルデバラン / NHK連続テレビ小説「カムカムエヴリバディ」主題歌
2. IN THE MIDDLE (feat. 三浦大知)
3. THE MOMENT (feat. ¥ellow Bucks)
4. Welcome Rain
5. First Time (feat. RIEHATA)
6. Lessons
7. BE WITH YOU / 東京建物 企業CMソング
8. パパへ
9. WE HAVE A DREAM / 書籍「WE HAVE A DREAM 201カ国202人の夢×SDGs 」テーマソング

    AI is an artists that has many faces in my opinion. I've stated her core sound above and that's were she tends to be comfortable. Still, she's manages to cultivate her sound using these core elements each time her albums drop. I'm not a huge fan of all the albums that AI has released but I can't deny that when she's on her game musically, it's on like super glue. Dream shows that while the singer was away, she took the time to think about what style she wanted to create. The title track is a classical gospel ballad representative of AI's biggest hit over a decade ago. Lyrics in the track tell of desperate love reading " I want to see you smile before the world ends" as the the violins's sleekness flows on behind an every growing vocal choir(who still stays controlled until the last half of the track.). Dream actually melts together track wise more than her last album. She also chose good collaborations such as Daichi Miura and Yellow Bucks who up lift their tracks to add upbeat numbers to Dream's tracklist. There's also tracks such as mid tempo RnB Pop track called Welcome Rain where the AI proves that she can preform a song all on her own. All her core values in what she likes to do as an artist are in this album but more formulated and mature. I enjoyed the first half of the album a bit more than the latter half that felt more like normal songs. The sampling of a chorus from another track she released a couple years ago was cool too. It was a song about her mother. 

   AI has roots in Gospel music. I remember watching one of her english interviews years ago about how she used to sing in a Gospel choir in America. She naturally has a deep richness to her voice that fits Soul music. Her vocal range is quite big too if you go back and listen to her older works.