Women With A Suitcase(캐리어를 끄는 여자) Korean Drama Thoughts(2016)

 

   Directed by Kwon Seok Jang and written by Kwon Eum Mi, Women With a Suitcase is a 2016 drama Starring veteran South Korean actress Cho Ji Woo and actor Joo Jin Mo while costarring Idol singer Lee Joon along side Jeon Hye Bin. The drama lasted for 16 episodes.



   A women was originally studying to be an Attorney but events occurred sending her to jail for a set time. She then became the manager of an Attorney office. Together with other lawyers, she must help solve many court cases and even find the strength to restart her goal of becoming an Attorney herself again.

  This drama was surprisingly one of the better written ones of 2016-2017. Nothing in the summery of this show gives the viewer a hint of how good this drama will be. What can be said as you watch Women With a Suitcase is that the script was written to keep the story at an interesting pace. You first check for all the normal key elements that are suppose to be in a Korean drama such as, romance, comedy, mystery, or of course, DRAMA(WELL, DUH!). All of these key elements are there but the script lets you have a fair experience of all of them. It's kind of like you are given a choice of what you want to see. Romance and Comedy play a huge role in filling up screen time when court cases are not the topic of conversation. The script writer doesn't try to force the love aspect on you though. He instead lets the viewers have enough headway to seen love grow between the characters. I enjoyed the fact that the show never ran out of cases for the characters to work on. Even allowing the cases to hit close to home making the story progress more in an interesting direction. You're really given a story that's not too focused on one fraction of events in hope that the plot will be pushed along. Enough content was written to push the story forward on all accounts. Now, my problems with this drama comes from the way the time gaps were chosen to be presented. I look up and all of a sudden it's "one year later" or "two years later". What the hell is this? Can't I get at least one scene showing what happened to the main character during that time period so the whole thing doesn't feel cheap? I have a problem with any drama that uses the time jump before setting the story up for that leap properly. I was left feeling cheated every time this drama did it. That was about two or three times.

   The casting for Women With a Suitcase is the reason why I'm even here. Choi Ji Woo is my childhood Korean actress that got me into the game of watching Korean drama. She chose a better role here than her last drama called Twenty Again(See My Post.). She needed a role that would allow her to spread her wings and be a bit more youthful. There's serious case of good times then bad times that her character is involved in. Her character waits for her time to step up to the plate which was what I liked about her. She knew when the time was right to act and when it wasn't. The character had a lot more common sense than the lawyers that were handling the cases sometimes. Choi ji Woo isn't getting any younger but she has a strong youthfulness at heart. You can see it come out when she plays certain roles and she is the only Korean actress that I think can get away with acting younger than her age without making her scenes turn awkward. Her whining and pouting about comes off more natural on her than others I have seen. Joo Ji Mo was that puzzle piece that was meant to be connected to Choi Ji Woo's character if she were a puzzle piece missing that one piece to complete the puzzle. His character is the calm, cool, and collected type. Maybe a little too cocky at times too. It was funny watching his cool guy demeanor crack when dealing with Choi Ji Woo's character. He has an unwavering faith in her character during the drama that makes you go "Aww"! They're chemistry is one quality that makes this drama fun to watch. Lee Joon is on of the few Idol actors that has gained my respect over the years. His character here is so different from the scary characters that he is known for portraying. I rooted for him quite a bit without meaning too…. The character kinda of seems like the underdog in a lot of the situations. Then on the other hand, he remains a very cheery character. Choi ji Woo and Lee Joon's characters are reflections of each other to me. Both had that underdog complex in common with each other. Both characters grew tremendously as people too. The age difference for the love interest was new for Choi Ji Woo and wondered how the drama would address it. Writers address the issue straight  on to my joy. Jeon Hye Bin's character went from being meek girl to THAT BAD BITCH. She got on my last nerve to the end. However, she in such a clear way that I wouldn't have pick any other actress to play her role. I felt all her character's emotions from the bitterness to the terror of her sister's movements. She was that thorn in my side that wouldn't go away. That itch that you want to scratch but can't…

  I absolutely loved the opening sequence of this drama. The effects and camera angles make everything look so fresh and clean. Alex was perfect for singing the theme song as well. Watching the opening gets me in a happy mood somehow.

  Women With a Suitcase is one of Choi ji Woo's better dramas. Watch this Over Twenty Again if you want a drama that has a more solid storytelling. You will most likely find someone to relate to while watching this drama also since it touches on a range of topics.

Li Rong Hao(李榮浩) - EN(嗯) Album Thoughts(Mandopop)

Track List:
01. 嗯En
02. 就這樣That Is It
03. 裙姊Qun Zi
04. 歌謠Ballad
05. 我看著你的時候When I Look At You
06. 祝你幸福Wish You Happiness
07. 后羿Hou Yi (《王者榮耀》后羿英雄主打歌)
08. 戒菸Quit Smoking
09. 少年Teenager
10. 不說Tacit (電影《從你的全世界路過》路過版主題曲)

 

  Singer Li Rong Hao has had an successful career as a Chinese singer. He has released three albums and two EPs. Each release caused the singer to gain more fame, receiving the best new singer award and best album of the year in China. EN is the fourth album by the singer that has been met with positive reviews from listeners.

  I started listing to Rong Hao a year ago during the release of his second album. I really liked how he had his own distinct musical style compared to others at the time. EN continues Hao's creative process but does take a new path to a new sound. I'm a fan of his sophomore self titled album containing a more soulful rock sound. EN is quite different from this album in a few ways. For one, the album is full of ballads and med tempo Mandopop tracks. Hao really defined what the genre "Mandopop" means as the album uses a lot of traditional Chinese instruments to be played for support of the pop beats. He still produced En with his old roots in mind a little bit. If you want to count the straight out of Motown funky guitar support in some of EN's  tracks. However, the music is mostly focused on slow acoustic ballads and just slow songs in general. Inside these mellow tracks, acoustic guitars and electric guitars play on top of each other. Making an loud versus quiet echo of music clashing into each other. I can hear the talent Hao has for music production even though I'm not a big fan of EN as a whole album. All the singles for the album are good. Slower tracks included. What caught my attention was Hao's expert craft for pulling listeners in by using his lyrics and musical production. He's the kind of singer that can make you feel a connection to his lyrics because of the reliability. Whether the lyrics are about regular life or love. I'm sure Chinese listeners love his songs simply for the well written lyrical content. One last quality that I noticed was the production of Electropop mixed with Chinese cultural music. The beat is kind of fast, loud, and even could be described as messy. This doesn't stop Hao from using these traits to create a fresh style for fans. You would think that the obedient form of traditional Chinese music wouldn't fit well with Electropop until Hao proves the theory wrong. EN feels like a low key musical experiment to me overall.

   Li Rong Hao's vocals are a cross between rock and soul musical styles. I could see him doing Jazz or other mellow styles too. Whoever was in charge of background vocals for the album was a REAL DAMN MAN[INSERT ME LAUGHING!]! That singer could hit some very low notes. It might have been Hao himself singing his own backup vocals too.

   From a music standpoint, EN isn't a bad album at all. All the tracks are not for me since some are too slow(I do like a few of his ballads.). I'm still a defiant fan though.

SUPER JUNIOR(슈퍼주니어) - PLAY Album Thoughts(K-pop)

 

Track List:
01. Black Suit
02. Scene Stealer
03. 비처럼 가지 마요 (One More Chance)
04. Good Day for a Good Day
05. Runaway
06. The Lucky Ones
07. 예뻐 보여 (Girlfriend)
08. Spin Up!
09. 시간 차 (Too late)
10. I do (두 번째 고백)

   Super Junior is another male group involved in Kpop that I will always tune into.  I'm over here looking like a hypocrite most of the time because of the select few Kpop bands that I grew up listening to. These bands could have a hundred comebacks to music and I will be there for each one even as a non Kpop fan. Well as long as the music is to my taste. Super Junior became on of there Kpop bands when I found their music on Youtube in the early 2000s. That was back when Youtube had the star rating system….. Gosh, many of you don't even know what the hell I'm talking about. Youth is a great thing isn't it? Well, Super Junior continues to be timeless with a comeback that was long overdue. The men held off the comeback due to the members having to serve military service for South Korea(All male citizens are required to serve military service by age thirty.) Play comes as the group's 8th album to date. Their huge worldwide fanbase could not be happier. Welcome back guys.

   Play in all honesty feels like the boys have never left. Whether you are a new or old fan, Suju are the kings of getting their listener's asses off the couch for a freestyle dance of your own. None will judge your dancing skills of course….. Yeah Yeah. I just might but the boys are on a mission to make you look like a damn clown. The album starts out in full up beat glory. Black Suit's instrumental came straight out of the Jazz clubs using in sync saxophones that sound clearly with the baseline beat.   One of the big themes for the music of Play was funkadelic pop tunes. Each track took on a piece of the album since each track added an ounce of power to the over all production. All the tracks are pretty up beat except for a few such as One More Chance. Slower songs are not a damper on the album on bit and I'm glad producers too precautions to choose ballads that didn't cause the album to lose momentum. Acoustic guitars mixed with a pop undertone join Play in a harmonious fashion which could be heard in One More Chance. I was super happy that Play was so epic. Black suit joins perfectly in collection with their other hits like Sorry Sorry and Mr. Simple without a doubt.

   Damn! Hearing all of them again singing together gave me chills. Their harmonies took me back to my middle school and high schools days. Lets just give these guys a hand for coming back in tip top form. Not a sign that either of them felt awkward because of the time away. All of them instead fit together like it was meant to be. A long career being with one another will do that to musical artists….. The truly talented ones anyways.

  Play was a great album from a Kpop band that proves that they still have shit going on. I'm always a happy listener of pop music when the music is GOOD. Super junior better do their THANG[INSERT ME LAUGHING.]!

BISH(ビッシュ) THE GUERiLLA BISH Album Thoughts(J-rock/pop)

 

This is the pre release of the album for Tower Records.

01 My landscape
02 SHARR
03 GiANT KiLLERS
04 SMACK baby SMACK
05 spare of despair
06 プロミスザスター
07 JAM
08 Here’s looking at you, kid
09 ろっくんろおるのかみさま
10 BODiES
11 ALLS
12 パール
13 FOR HiM

   Bish(AKA Brand New Idol Shit) is a Japanese idol female group that was created in 2014. These girls are the second coming of another former group known as BIS and were picked by their manager as a group after Bis(Brand New Idol Society) disbanded that year. True fact about me is that I can't stand female idol groups from Japan unless you want to count the groups that don't have whiny voices, groups that actually sing like women. I actually don't care for male idol groups either. I only still follow Arashi but they release singles too frequently for me now. Anyway, back to the reasons I give Bish the time of day. Bis and Bish both had a very unique concept: Be the absolute opposite of what an Idol group should be. Meaning that these girls are crude, scary, and unforgiving in their goal to destroy the pure virgin image that other female Idols have continued to maintain. Their music videos and photo shoots are the best example of Bish's concept which seems to be working in their favor. The group's success has surpassed that of their mother group even with the revival of Bis earlier last year. The Guerrilla Bish is the groups second major label album release and their forth album release overall.

   I was kind of disappointed with The Guerrilla Bish as a full album. My experience with Bis might have also tainted my realistic expectations to the color black. Singles for the album like My landscape made me pumped for a solid consistent album but instead Bish gave fans a crazy fresco of screams and rock tracks so diluted with pop influence that you wonder how these girls pull off being such a group of weird vocalists. I'm not saying that the album is worse than the music that AKB- whatever their names are consistently comes out with. (If you're a fan of them then more power to you.) I just wanted to be blown out the water like I was when I listened to Bis's albums for the first time. Music on Guerrilla Bish has a rock focus point since it's very befitting of their image. Don't be fooled by how hard these girl rock out though, they are still an idol group at the end of the day. This being proven by the increase in softness of the musical productions on some songs. Producers add a light touch of piano followed by violins under the band of guitars and drums. The flow of the instruments go together well making the over composition feel less cheesy. My landscape is a huge example of what I'm talking about. The track diverges away from Bish's harder sound without losing the darkness in their music that makes them great. Sometimes Bish can trick you into forgetting that you're listening to Idol Jpop thanks to them truly being a breath of fresh air. Toward the end of Guerrilla Bish, The tracks remind me more of Bis. Bodies might as well be my favorite track. I always automatically play this song when listening to the album. However, tracks 10 through 12 are all pretty solid. Tracks before these are the girls trying too hard to be crazy(Expect for the perviously released singles.). Sharr would have been a good track had one of the girls added a little harmony at the chorus in my opinion. Screamo being in the album at all was a huge surprise to me but I don't feel that they need to pull out all the stops in order to be different. They already got the concept down with their presences. Matching outfits and all.

  Vocal performances for Bish are a selection from cute to mature. One of the reasons I like Bis was that they girls had a various range of voices. Some of the members sound their age. Deeper voice with less emphasis on the high whiny voice. Some thing applies to Bish. There's a cute sounding girl in both groups but they learn to blend well with the other who don't have that kind of voice. It makes having to listen to them sing less torture. Chihiro is the captain of Bish for a damn reason. That girl can hit those high notes no matter if it's during Bish's live performances or in the studio. She's the girl that sings the loudest in Bish's songs. Random ramble about to happen here but I like the girl with the glasses(Atsuka). She's cute in a non idol kind of way. I think it was a great decision having her wear glasses since it helps her stand out a lot.

  Guerilla Bish needed Bish doing more of just being themselves than trying to play a role. Being an Idol was all about playing a role for the public until Bish hit the scene. These girls come off as more relatable to listeners when they're music is less prepackaged. Keep being honest in your music girls.

Bluebeard(해빙) Korean Film Thoughts

    Bluebeard was a film that I had done a little looking into before it hit stores but I wasn't too sure if it was a Korean film that I wanted to watch. Just so happen I ran across the film and decided,"what the heck. I'll watch this since I'm able to buy it in store." The film's cast is made up of Cho Jin Woong who I didn't start warming up to until very recently, Shin Goo(veteran actor.), then lastly Kim Dae Myung. You might call this film one of the more indie arthouse Korean films but it's still been praised by reviewers for the psychological content of the plot. Hence, some of the five star ratings have not been too good for the film. Reasons being the same ones I probably have.

   A sergeant moves from Seoul to a small town to practice medicine. While doing surgery on a man under anesthesia, The man admits to a murder. He also tells the whereabouts of the corpse. The soon began to suspect the man's whole family of murder.

   Bluebeard's plot is all about foreshadowing the events before they happen. You as the viewer can try to figure out whats going on. However, there's really no need because the main character does all the paranoid  over reacting for you. The script is written in a way that you are afraid of the unseen. Not so much the future but a fake narrative created by your own fear. Things actually get on your nerves a bit if your the type of person that doesn't like to be strung around. Story progression gives you a suspect that seems suspicious enough. That is until all these other elements come into play. Korean film writers love creating films dealing with the murder of women. I guess its based on the real murders that happened in south Korea al those years ago. You don't focus too much on the murders while watching Bluebeard though. One initial question will pop up in your head: "Who is the crazy one here??". Questions like this was what had me on edge constantly throughout Bluebeard's duration. By the time you get to the conclusion, you wonder why life can be so sucky. Also, I thought of the saying that what goes around, comes around. People in this world can't do evil and expect to live life scotch free. That evil comes back around on you in different forms. You better believe that. The ending is what you make of it depending on how you feel about the events leading up to it.

    Jin Woong has grown on me as an actor after watching Signal as well as a couple of other productions that he was in. He's a pretty vulnerable character here. His character so much like a fish out of water that you kinda wonder why. The character gets pulled around in a game against himself and a supposed murder family. Jin Woong does a solid performance connecting to human emotion of someone who's mind is unraveling. I'm used to seeing him play characters with power such as a gangster or a detective that uses comedy to make people around him laugh. Good thing that he's showing me that he can play various kinds of characters now. Kim Dae Myung and Shin Goo creeped me out in their performance as father and son. I didn't know what the hell they were doing in that Butcher shop but other films like Fried Green Tomatoes and Hannibal keep coming to my mind. That mysterious demeanor  they had made me feel for Jin Woong's character's mental break down. They're hugely responsible for the hint of dark humor presented in the film.

    Bluebeard was an alright film that's strenuous on the mind. I was all too happy when this film was over. In fact it felt super long for some reason. Give this film a watch if you're a fan of dark thrillers. Don't expect this film to be the best in the world. Just enjoy this film as something to pass the time. Bluebeard was directed and written by Lee Soo Yeon.

Fabricated City(조작된 도시) Korean Film Thoughts

   Fabricated City is a 2017 Korean film staring Ji Chang Wook, Shin Eun Kyung, and, Ahn Jae Hong. the film was directed by Park Kwang Hyun and written by him as well. Many tickets were sold for the film in it's first week making the overall ticket sales surpass a million tickets sold. This caused the film to win most popular award at the 2017's Korean film awards.


   A young gamer is falsely charged for the murder and rape of a girl that he didn't even know. He was then sentenced to jail time. Now he must find a way to clear his name with the help of other fellow gamers that he befriended online.

    The plot of Fabricated City was terrible disjoined. It will seem more so disjointed to people who read the plot summery before watching the film. I read the plot and it made me think the the film was going to deal a lot with virtual reality. Posters for the film give you that impression too until you see the actual film. The first few scenes of the film do just that too. These momentary sequences of acting draw the viewer in to set them up for a down fall of disappointment. Gosh, Everything in these opening scenes are so damn flashy. Great action cinematography on top of intense action that leaves you expecting more later in the film. After these scenes, viewers are brought to a normal downsized version of the plot. Writers pretty much use the same old over used Korean cinema conflicts to move the plot along. Looking at what was shown gives off the vibe of a couple of other films. Most notably, The Prison(See My Post.) because of the heart stopping brutality that the main character faced in Jail. While Fabricated City gives a more raw realistic portrayal than The Prison, the latter still feels like it covered all the ground that needed to be covered on Prison life in South Korea. The plot never recovers from the mishap of pretending to be something that it wasn't in the beginning. You literally wait for the plot to utilize the introduction of virtual reality seen in the beginning of the film. It never comes though sadly. Things only go from the potential of being unique to being like all the other Korean crime thrillers. I'll give props to the visuals which I'll discuss more later but what was used as a little taste of the futuristic appeal that I was expecting, wasn't enough to connect the beginning, middle, and end of the film for me.

   The acting was the same old same old. None had me really excited by their performances. All the actors were just so so for me. I'm wracking my brain right now for any acting performances that made an impression on me and I can't think of anything. The lead actor was handsome…. That's about it. I also want to give a shout out to the black man and woman that has a small part in the film. The way they were represented made me kinda of happy. Their acting felt much more real than a lot of the other foreigner actors who come across as robotic in Korean movies. Some foreign actors get on camera delivering their lines like they reading off a damn sign behind the camera. The director made sure to show a true to life portrayal of one side of what a black person's experience could be living in South Korea(especially if you're living in the country side.).

   Fabricated City is defiantly pretty to look at. The special effects are on point in the film. They go well with the disfunction of the plot mostly. Special effects are done so well that you forget for a few minutes how the plot doesn't flow. Then the special effects end and you're left with the reality that the scriptwriter held out on a conjoint story for flashy visuals. They are on part with the effects in Hollywood films actually. I've noticed that Korean filmmakers are leveling up each year on their digital effects game. Soon Hollywood might start getting scared of the big SK![INSERT ME LAUGHING.] I really loved the effects since they put in mind of The Matrix a little bit.

    This film is a flashy piece of fluff. I'm not going to lie to you. Best part about this film is the visuals. What's really sad is that Fabricated City would have been a solid film had the scriptwriter taken the time to just had the plot send the characters back into virtual reality again for a conflict builder.

Kenshi Yonezu(米津 玄師) - BOOTLEG Album Thoughts(J-Alternaitve)

 

01.　飛燕
02.　LOSER
03.　ピースサイン
04.　砂の惑星（＋Hatsune Miku ）
05.　orion
06.　かいじゅうのマーチ
07.　Moonlight
08.　春雷
09.　fogbound（＋IKEDA ELAIZA ）
10.　ナンバーナイン
11.　爱丽丝
12.　Nighthawks
13.　打上花火
14.　灰色と青(＋Masaki Suda ）
   


    Kenshi Youezu is a musician that came from an unusual background compared to other Japanese artists. The singer got his start uploading songs online after deciding to play around with the growing vocaloid trend in Japan. He had created songs using his original vocal but he didn't start gaining fame until he started performing under the stage name Haichi. As Haichi, he constantly released music that was well received along side popular Vocaloid singer, Hastune Miku. 2012 marked the year that Youezu came out on the music scene using his unedited voice again under his real name. His albums were met with huge success since he had made a name for myself as a producer that held online prominence. Bootleg is his fourth album to be released. The album features tracks used in popular anime such as March Comes In Like A Lion(See my post.).

   I've been enjoying myself listening to Kenshi Youezu's newer releases. I listened to some of his music online and feel head over heels for the guy's craft. His music literally sounds like nothing else that's out on the radio in Japan right now. Well, I can say that about half of the songs that he has released. Bootleg became of interest to me after I saw the collaborations and the fact that I liked the previously released singles. People who decide to listen to this album should be fairly warned that this dude is a producer's dream. He writes and producers all his own music just like Utada Hikaru, so there's none to stop the album from being too experimental. I know that I always preach about being creative with your sound but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Bootleg begins to play utilizing tracks that remind me of the pop rock liveliness of one of his singles called Loser. The dynamics of the production of this style caught my attention instantly. There's a slight edge created by the guitar rifts attached to the aftermath of the pop beat. Much of the tracks have this fool proof prank musical style about them. Loser and a couple of other tracks approach listeners like they are rock until you take a closer look to the composition of the tracks. Which leads me to my kind of disagreement with Bootleg. The album is good. It just doesn't live up to the expectations placed on it by the headlining singles. Behind all the flashy production, Bootleg is nothing more than a simple J-pop album that could have been performed by any other artist. None can hands down take away Kenshi's unique penmanship or his uncontainable sound, as heard in tracks like Orion but that doesn't take away from the simple need of him taking his music a step further to me. I did enjoy the moments in the album that had Kenshi playing his own game of guitar hero since this is the style I believe fits his natural voice. Alternative rock ballads are also one of the music forms I'm a huge fan of. Kenshi takes his music down that road in artistic grace. The duet he did with Masaki Suda was my favorite track on the album. Masaki doesn't feel like a featured artist in my opinion. Instead the song feel like it was written for him. Now, Lets all do a sneaky wink to the side because Kenshi is a producer after all. Good track for some slow jam rock action! One last thing I noticed was how Kenshi adapts the old Japanese sound into his modern day style. This sound puts me in mind of Japanese festivals and living in the country side during the summer in Japan. Then the porch of a traditional Japanese styled house as the sunlight hits it's wooden floorboards at sunset. Signaling the end of the hot day.

   Vocals on Bootleg don't sound any different from all the other male pop rock singers in Japan. I do enjoy his tone in his lower register though. Sometimes his voice gets on my nerves when he holds notes too long and this unstable vibrato comes out. Did I mention that this guy can draw pretty damn well?! Yeah… that was random… I know, take it as a fun fact.

   Bootleg was a tiny bit of a disappointment to me. Thank god that there's some good material in the fourteen tracks that are on the album. What most keeps me hook on this guy's music is his artistry. I wish that he would(or his record label would) stop trying to sound so mainstream pop. It really cuts his uniqueness in half to me. He is meant to be a wild child looking at the talent he has.