I Dream of Jiyul

Though many out there hate the term BIAS to describe his or her favorite member in any given group, in K-pop it tends to be a natural and inevitable progression of fandom, and my love for current K-pop Flavor of the moment Dal Shabet is no different and in this short information-packed week, the one that rose to the top and became my Dal Shabet Girl Numero Uno was none other than Ms. Yang Jung Yoon, the delectable Miss Jiyul!

After spending the last week in a sweet sherbet induced haze and devouring solid hours of Dal Shabet videos, clips, live performances and variety show appearances, I can now say that I’m a bonafide, true FAN of these gals, and though I can probably come up with a ranking list where each member stands (so far), the real focus of my fan mania has always been solidly centered around two particular members of the group; while I like the other four members more or less equally, the other two are ABOVE AND BEYOND the HEART AND SOUL of why I love Dal Shabet so much in the first place were the sweet and adorable Jiyul and the svelte and sexy Kaeun!

My Two Faves: Kaeun and Jiyul

In the beginning when I was just discovering the girls’ awesome songs and performances, it was clearly Kauen who was my early favorite-She was such a striking figure onstage with her “Cool Beauty” image and statuesque postures, MY GOSH was this chick SEXY as HELL onstage! I’d even find out that that was a role she’d personally chosen for herself in the group, even down to telling some TV show hosts she doesn’t like doing aegyo because “she’s the sexy one” LOL!   

But as I began really watching the variety shows, interviews and backstage antics, the one that kept getting my attention was the girls’ pretty and petite singer, Jiyul! I don’t know, maybe it was the fact that she spoke English (and in such a soothing, lilting accent) and seemed so enthusiastically CHEERFUL, but it didn’t take long til SHE was the one I was waiting to see in every video and clip! 

The first time I ever saw the group in a non-performing setting was on the show Gurupop, and as the show was geared towards a western audience, the Q&A segment of the show was read by UK raised Jiyul in English and right away her personality was shining like a beacon- 

Already I could tell that this girl was funny and easygoing, but BOY, I didn’t realize how doggone SPUNKY she was til the interview part of the show, where she playfully mugged, gestured comically and cheerfully smiled throughout the whole show- and with those killer dimples and that adorable eye-smile-WOW did she make an impression with me!!! 

It was while watching these variety shows that I began to realize how much Jiyul reminded me of Tiffany of Girls’ Generation- not only did they have the same English-speaking backgrounds, they had the same eye-smiles and even both had those trademark worried-eyebrows LOLOL

Another aspect of Jiyul I learned was how much she cared for the rest of the Dal Shabet members. When asked which member was the most "motherly", the others all quickly pointed to Jiyul, saying that she's a good cook and will always whip up something for them to eat when they're hungry. Reminded me that she'd been a contestant on Celebrity Chef awhile ago (which I then had to go online and look for) sadly, despite her hard work she was let go in the very first episode! Poor girl, she was so sad after studying stressfully with her mother to prepare for the show. But at least we know that the Dal Shabet girls themselves love her culinary skills!

So, yeah, in the end, Adorable won over Sexy (probably for the first time in my life, LOL) as I continued watching new clips and performances, I realized that at some point Jiyul had become my  favorite member in the group! Though I know that as I get to know the girls even more my outlook may change, and though I'll still be keeping an eye on Kaeun's sexy moves whenever they're onstage, the girl who has been deemed the auspicious (LOL) title of my Dal Shabet BIAS right now is dear darling Jiyul!

By the way, one GREAT thing I’ve noticed about loving Jiyul and watching a ZILLION performances of Mr Bang Bang back to back is that each and every one of them begins with a pretty closeup of her as she breathlessly whispers the line “You’re a Guy…with no guts”!   Devastating Critique, but MY does she look gorgeous saying it! Definitely a screencapping opportunity for the budding Jiyul fanboy! LOLOL

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Right Now It’s Dal★Shabet!

Dal Shabet

With all these k-pop comebacks coming in left and right you would think I had enough on my plate without getting into another new group, but that’s exactly what happened when somehow Happy Face Entertainment act Dal Shabet snuck in with their new song “Be Ambitious” and stole my heart!

Getting Ready for "Be Ambitious"

Dal Shabet was one of the handful of new groups my friend introduced me to when I was first getting into K-pop. He’s always been an ardent supporter of the “Rookie” groups that seem to arrive (and disappear) in the blink of an eye whereas I've never been keen on investing a lot of time in newbie artists that probably won’t be around for long, so unless I really dig the song they’re promoting, I usually pass ‘em by. Not my friend. He looks forward to these acts and actively reads up on the new groups and sends me links to ones he particularly likes, over time he’s sent me vids to groups like Gangkiz, SHE’Z, Hello Venus, and even my beloved Crayon Pop, and among the acts he’s sent to me, one of the first clips he sent me was for Dal Shabet’s latest (at the time) single “Hit U”...

The deadly "Hit U" MV

...and another boyfriend goes down...

Now, I don’t know how many of you have seen the video for this song, but it is a dark and fairly disturbing video of a girl killing her cheatin’ lover and because of it, I assumed these girls were more of a Hip-Hop/Urban style of music than the happy, peppy K-pop I was getting into, so I have to say that at the time, I didn’t really get into them too much. Come to find out that Hit U was in fact a dramatic change in style for the girls, and that their earlier releases were much more in the fun, poppy and wonderfully SILLY styles that I love!

Fun early Dal Shabet with "Pink Rocket"

Yep, seems like the heart of Dal Shabet's music was really rooted in idol goodness, and nothing alerted me more to that fact than when the girls came out with their single “Mr. Bang Bang”. I have to say that this song was SO DAMN catchy and the girls were so DARN adorable performing it live (with their sexy western “Cowboy” outfits and boots) that they really moved up in my list and became a group I kept an eye on!

"Mr. Bang Bang" Promotions

 I followed the girls as a casual fan through their single "Have, Don't Have" and liked it enough to be excited when I began hearing about their 2013 comeback! I wasn’t sure which Dal Shabet I was expecting to see with their new song “Be Ambitious”, what I got was a Cute, Playful AND Sexy act, one that blew my mind and FINALLY sent me over into true FAN status! Beautiful Girls in Sexy Outfits and super catchy tunes, what more could a K-pop fan ask for?!

Leggy Ladies in "Be Ambitious"

Though some people had "issues" with their promotions, first for their using their own CD as a prop for their song “DalShabet Girls”, which they called tacky, but in MY opinion, I thought it was a hilarious and ingenius way to Let everyone know what they're getting; when you’re singing a song with the lyrics “Dal Shabet is my name!”, why NOT have them cutely gesturing to the CD? LOLOL!

Using their new Mini Album as Stage Props! LOL

The other hot topic of controversy is, of course, their undeniably overt sexual overtones in the dance choreography, a common complaint that has been hung around a few of the acts lately, 4Minute being the most famous, I guess… To this all I can say is “I Know what I LIKE!!” Man, that Be Ambitious’ sexy “Skirt Removal” dance move TOTALLY MADE the song for me and for a song about a girl telling a guy to check out her legs, what other KIND of choreo would you expect? To me, that was a total WIN!

The Marilyn Monroe Skirt Reveal move. Aiyaiyai!

 After a few feverish nights of non-stop Dal Shabet youtubing, I think I’ve finally gotten down who not only who each to the members are, but their distinct personalities as well! May I introduce you to the lovely ladies of Dal Shabet:

Serri

WooHee

JiYul

AYoung

Subin

Kaeun

After immersing myself into the girls songs and absolutley falling in LOVE, I rushed over to Yesasia where I planned on getting not only their new CD Be Ambitious, but also their previous Mini-Album Have, Don't Have AND the awesome “Bang Bang” Full Album that I admittedly shoulda got a LONG time ago! Sadly, they were out of Bang Bang, so I had to go online and find another dealer who could get me all of those albums at a decent price, thankfully I found someone who had 'em all (as well as the first HelloVenus album which I'd been wanting to pick up), so those discs are ON THEIR WAY!!!!  MAN, can't wait to get these discs so I can start cruisin' around town blasting these babies!! I'm loving these gals soooo much right now!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My Saturday K-Pop Shipment!

Uwaa, been spending the weekend listening to my CDS so  much I didn't have time to even post about 'em yet! This Saturday arrived three BEAUTIFUL CD releases, SISTAR's new album "Give It To Me", Rainbow's "Rainbow Syndrome Part II" and Afterschool's new album "First Love"!
  The SISTAR release (which is quickly becoming my favorite out of the three to listen to in the car!) is gorgeous. in fact, it looks exactly like SISTAR19's recent release- they look like CDS fromt he same "series" if you will! I was worried the absence of Brave Brothers would change their sound, but DoubleKick has carried on the SISTAR banner nicely!
   Was ecstatic to get the UEE version of the Afterschool album-both front and back covers featuring her, as well as the insert trading card- kind of funny-at first I didn’t even realize the cover featured a random member til I was online on ebay (looking for Dal Shabet) and noticed people selling their Afterschool First Love albums with the description “Eyoung Cover”, "Lizzy Cover", etc. only THEN I realized Uee wasn’t on the cover of ALL of them!!! Pretty stoked, because out of all of them, I think Uee looks the best with this "Dark" look of theirs!

Probably the CD that surprised me MOST was the Rainbow Syndrome Part Two release- from the outside it looked just like their previous Part ONE, but as I opened it, the center of the gatefold was a POP-UP scene with the image of Rainbow coming up and the CD itself being "served" to you on a platter! SOOOOO COOOL!

Man, once again K-Pop raising the bar with new and totally INNOVATIVE packaging!! What'll they think of next?
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Real Surprise Ending to Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" For Me

I'm sure this is common knowledge, but I sure didn't know about any of this...

So I was watching the new Disney/Pixar flick Wreck-It Ralph today (totally awesome movie, by the way), and when the movie ended, I let the credits run in case they stuck a clip or teaser on at the end (they didn't, but it DID have a very nice short "Paperman" following the movie), anyway, I got up to clear the table of snacks n stuff, and as the ending song played on in the background, I was stunned to realize: the ending song had at some point turned into a song sung in JAPANESE! 

I turned to the screen and said out loud, "The ending credits to Wreck It Ralph is a J-Pop song, and it sounds like a bunch of idol girls!!" I HAD to sit down and wait for the song credits to go by, and when the music titles came up, I was properly STUNNED to read: "Sugar Rush" performed by...AKB48!!!

WHAT! AKB48 sang the ending song to the latest DISNEY flick...in AMERICA???

Gotta say, I was impressed.
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Return Of Doona Bae

Doona Bae in Cloud Atlas

So I’m watching the movie Cloud Atlas, and I’m at the storyline set in the futuristic Neo-Korea of 2144 where a genetically cloned servant girl named Sonmi-451 is being interrogated about her socially conscious “awakening” which took her from her former docile and hive-minded state, into her period of “social awakening” which took her to human-like status where she eventually became a rebel figure.

As it plays on, the plot began to remind me of that touching and bittersweet Japanese movie Air Doll (Kuki Ningyo), the story about the innocent and wide-eyed blow-up doll that came to life and her interactions with humanity, not only did the STORY seem similar, in fact, the actress PLAYING Sonmi 451 looked a HELLA lot like the actress playing the Air Doll,too! By the time the movie was about halfway over, I was convinced: this HAD to be the same girl- she was too similar and PERFECT in the role!

Doona Bae in Air Doll

Well, when the movie ended (after an epic 2 hour and 45 minute odyssey) and the credits ran, I saw the name “Doona Bae” go scrolling by, and realized that, yep, that’s exactly who it was! So amazing, those Watchowski Brothers probably saw Air Doll back in the day, and when they read the story of Sonmi451, the girl who left the world of compliant, blind servitude and went out into the real world to experience what it meant to be alive, they knew EXACTLY who to go to!

Gotta say that not only was she totally awesome in the role, her storyline actually ended up being my favorite of all the arcs IN Cloud Atlas! So mesmerizing as the former servant girl who gets elevated to martyr status, but that isn’t all- you ALSO get to see her Doona Bae (under heavy prosthetics makeup) portraying a chatty Mexican woman, and you ain’t seen nothing til you’ve seen her as a red-haired white woman! Amazing!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com