BLACKPINK In (My) Area

Well, it only took be two years since their debut back in August of 2016, but I’m finally getting into YG act BLACKPINK. Truthfully, I was actively resisting checking them out because they seemed SO MUCH like YG’s “replacement” for 2NE1, who were treated so shabbily by YG Head Honcho Yang Hyunsuk before the group disbanded. He’d regularly stated how much he wanted a “pretty” group over his “uglier” (in his own words) 2NE1 act, and once I saw and heard Blackpink, I knew that’s exactly what he'd made: A group that followed the same ‘formula” as 2NE1, but with more “model-looking” members. So I pretty much ignored them on principle, if only for loyalty towards 2NE1.

Ahhh, but good music is good music, and by the time the group dropped “DDU-DDU-DU”, I had already come around to liking the individual members (through a guest appearance on Running Man) and by the time member Jennie had gone solo, I decided it was time to give them a real listen.

Well, what I heard knocked me out. Not only that, but when I went back and lent an ear to their earlier songs like “As If It’s Your Last”, “Playing With Fire” and…drumroll, the mighty “BOOMBAYAH”, they all blew me away!

I mean, of course I should have realized I’d love these songs- they were still written and produced by the team that made 2NE1 so great (Teddy still calling the shots there) and the girls were practically hand-picked to sound like 2NE1, so of COURSE the end product would be something I’d DIG, but I didn’t know how MUCH I’d LOVE it!!

And then naturally came the next step: watching the girls on variety shows like Weekly Idol, Knowing Brothers and their own reality series BlackPink House where I really got to know their personalities! And I have to say, once I dug in, I was completely TAKEN!

As usual when I’m getting into a group I spend entire nights watching every clip and video I could of the girls, and in just a few weeks, had realized how much I LOVED them!

The first member I took to was Jennie because she reminded me so much of APink’s Naeun. At first she seemed cold and stiff, but then I discovered her droll and soft-spoken sense of humor and realized that was just her way!

Jisoo struck me because she reminded me of Japanese actress Yuriko Yoshitaka. But then i saw how playful and silly she was and saw her in a whole new light! Now she gives me the “best friend” vibe, much like Dahyun in TWICE or even Erika Haneda all the way back in the CoCo days!

Rather than an outgoing, zany personality, beautiful member Rose seems more like the “straight”  person against the other members’ total wackiness, reacting in a hilarious and often endearing way. A very sweet natured girl with a wonderful singing voice…and man, can she EAT!

Every member has their charms about them, but the member that really knocked me out with her outgoing , fun and ZANY personality was Thai member Lisa. Always laughing and goofing around, the other members sum her up thusly: “She acts this way because she wants to be a media star” Well, if that’s her intent, it’s working!!! Such a big and bold personality, and as you can see from the screencaps, is very, very beautiful to boot! (well, ALL of Blackpink are beautiful, but Lisa’s got that Maki Goto/Namie Amuro vibe that just transcends!

The Great Acorn Heist

A great example of the wonderful relationship the members have with each other is in the Rose fanmeet video. Because of her chubby cheeks, Lisa nicknamed her “Chipmunk Rose”, and one thoughtful fan either bought or hand-made a giant plush acorn for her.

She REALLY loves this acorn and holds it throughout the fanmeet, even remembering to take it with her as they leave. But one look at Rose hugging her acorn and naughty Lisa just HAS to try and steal it from her, resulting in a hilarious tug of war!

 Ah, but its all in fun, and though Lisa does wrest it away from Rose for awhile, she gives it back once Rose has forgotten about it. Clearly, the only reason she wanted it was to tease Rose!

This is one charming and funny group of girls with some definitely KICK-BUTT songs, and I'm going to make sure to pay attention to them from now on!

PS: Got a minor thrill when Blackpink paid a visit to Japan to promote their Nihongo Debut and was interviewed by none other than the original dancing Queen herself, Chisato Moritaka, who blessed them summarily with “They’re Really Kawaii!”

 

 

High praise from the Queen!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Notes on "Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi"

I was FINALLY able to watch the latest Yui Aragaki/ Ryuhei Matsuda drama “Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi” ( Weakest Beast). I had been dying to check this one out since its announcement, but strangely enough, until the last 5 minutes of this one hour first episode, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not!

I’ve mentioned before how much I hate dramas where the main character is put upon and picked on by people, ESPECIALLY those of the lazy and stupid variety (I think that’s why I love Ie Uru Onna so much, Keitan kicks those types right in the pants!), and for most of the show, Yui’s character of Akira Shinkai is exactly like that: an amazingly efficient and hard-working assistant who gets saddled with all the lazy people’s work and gets blamed for all the stupid people’s mistakes. 

But as the show goes on there is a shift in tone and you see the problems beginning to weigh down on Akira. And by the end decisions are made and I was happy to say DAMN, that's more like it! Now I can’t wait to see where this is going!

There seems to be an overall theme of people being used by other people and of people not being able to attain their dreams because of the pre-existing conditions set by others, and I’m sure as the show goes on we’ll be delving into each character’s story and arc.

So far the characters seem interesting enough, Yui is of course brilliant and you love her from the moment the show begins, but the rest of them will have to grow on me.

Kei Tanaka seems to be playing his usual unremarkable boyfriend character, much like his last in the Fumino Kimura “Ito Kun A to E”, his role of Akira's fiance Kyoya Hanai is much the same...am I supposed to be rooting for this guy?

 

Ryuhei Matsuda’s character of Kosei Nemoto is, I guess supposed to be the romantic foil  for Kyoya and Akira. But I dunno, he seems to be a kind of arrogant and unlikeable guy so far. Though Akira does call him out on his self-important posturing, so maybe that’s the point?

Rinko Kikuchi’s character of Kureha Tachibana doesn’t seem that much more interesting, but wow, she plays her with such gusto I love every scene she’s in! She's playing the (I think) love interest of Nemoto's but it's one of those "I love you but I won't say I love you" kind of deals....

I’m not even going to bother talking about the many, many irritating people in this show because they bug me whenever they’re on screen and I don’t want to waste more time on them, but special mention MUST be made of the hikkikomori clinger-on Shuri Nagato because she is played by Haru Kuroki of the drama Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho, which you all know I love to pieces and this will be the first time I'm seeing her in another role!

Oh, and we’ve also got veteran actress Misako Tanaka as Kyoya’s mother. So nice to see her, and its funny- she’s always made a career out of playing goofy moms, only now, her “kids” are like, grown MEN like Kei Tanaka, LOL

 

So yeah, that’s about where it stands right now…looking forward to seeing how this develops in the coming episodes….

PS: There was this one really quick but absolutely HILARIOUS passage where Akira is getting jostled around on the train and gets smushed against the glass.  Trying to regain her composure, she sees her face left a mark on the glass and she embarrassedly tries to wipe it off, LOLOL

 

 

 

 

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com