Review of the GazettE: "Guren"

Guren MV


Hey there, everybody! How are you today?

Today, I'm going to enter the Visual Kei domain and talk about one of my favorite bands, the GazettE. In this review, I'm going to be focusing much more about underlying meanings and hidden messages than anything else. This video and song paired together are quite deep and have so much symbolism that I have to give my interpretation on it. Yes, that's right, my interpretation. It may not be what the song-writer had in mind, but it's what I believe, so don't DARE tell me I'm "wrong" (I'm happy to hear your opinions, though!).

Oh, and I want you to know that I'm not being biased towards them when I rate them highly. It's honestly one of the best MVs out there, so I'm honestly in love with it.

First of all, let me get the more uncomplicated stuff out of the way. I'll kick this review off with the style. Now, I love the VK fashion! It incorporates so many different styles, and the makeup and hair rock. The GazettE is a band full of godly-looking men with great fashion sense, so it's obvious that I'm going to appreciate the style in this MV. I love the spiked hair to freaking death, and Ruki's eyeliner is beautiful as always! I'm really liking the jackets and vests used here as well. Not to mention Kai's awesome pants. All in all, the style gets a 5 out of 5 from me.

Now for the song itself. This might be my favorite GazettE song. I say might because "Silly God Disco" is pure awesome sauce. The instruments blend perfectly, as expected from these boys, and the vocals match the lyrics' sorrow and heartache to the very last note. For those of you that don't know the lyrics, it's about longing for someone who is now gone; gone as in dead. Most of the lines can simply point to a dead lover, but if you listen closely, you find that it's actually about a dead or dying child ("Even through my plugged ears, I can still hear the sound of a broken cradle"). The muffled child's laugh in the beginning supports this. I'll go into more detail about this in the next paragraph- which is about the plot- but for right now, I have to give a rating for the song. I'm going to say 4.99 out of 5. What is a 5 out of 5 for me? I don't know, we'll have to wait and see. I save 5 out of 5 for the best song in existence. I wonder if I'll ever find that song...

Time to get into the most detailed part of this review: the plot of the video. In short, the video shows a young girl in a red dress, standing in a red room with a sink running with white paint. The paint spills out onto the floor, and the girl starts to spread the paint on the walls until they're completely covered. In the band shots, this same girl is in a white dress, standing in the corner immobilized. I already expressed how the song was about a dead/dying child. This could mean many things in and of itself, but I'll give my three main theories based on the lyrics and the video:

One, a toddler with a terminal illness. "I don't want you to fade away" indicates that this child may be slowly dying, which makes me think of a hospitalized little girl. Blood-red represents many things, and in this case, it's representing life. White, as well as red, could be taken as a variety of symbols. Here, it means the lack of blood and therefore lack of life. Little by little, the red room (which stands for the girl's blood/life) is being painted the color of death. You may think "oh, but black is death, right?" You could be right, since black makes us think of the Grim Reaper and funerals; but in Chinese tradition, people wear white at funerals. It stands for snow and winter, a point in which life comes to a standstill. Even though this is a Japanese song, I think the white may be tied to Chinese funerals and snow. In conclusion, the little girl is slowly and painfully passing away, leaving the singer behind (could be father/mother, sibling, idk. Whatever you prefer). A painful way to look at it, but any way you slice it, this is a painful song.

Secondly, it could mean a miscarriage. The mother's uterus and/or the baby in it are having complications, and the mother is having to deal with the fact that she will inevitably loose her unborn child. The red room represents a healthy, blood-colored uterus, while the white represents the complications. Considering the fact that the girl is in a white dress at some points, I take it that she was a stillborn. I can't begin to imagine the pain that the mother must be going through. Mothers have ties and bonds to their children even before birth. How could you ever get over loosing such a precious person to death before you even getting to meet?

My last theory is an abortion. Abortion comes for many different issues, such as complications with the fetus, inability to support a child, etc. The lyrics point to the singer being pained with the abortion, which leads me to believe that the abortion can't be helped, whatever the reason may be. The singer is feeling pain and guilt for killing the human before it has a chance to live, but is powerless. I haven't been in any of the situations I've covered, but I think that this may be one of the worst things that could happen to a person. Having no choice but to take the life of your child... I can't even begin to think about it. It breaks my heart.

I officially am finished with this incredibly long review! All in all, Guren gets a 4.999 out of 5 from me. Yeah, I know, soooo close to a perfect score!! Tell me your thoughts below, and I would love to hear any other theories you have on the song's meaning. I'll see you guys later! Remember to make every day beautiful~

My Visit to Chinatown

Hello, my Chirashizushi!

How is everyone today? I decided to post about my trip to Chinatown a couple of months ago. It was a fantastic *baby* experience, and I wanted to share it with all of you~

I went to Chinatown the same weekend as the BIGBANG concert. We were close to it, and all of us really wanted to go, so we did! Among our group was my mom, my step-dad Jim, my best friend's big sister Maddie, Maddie's friend Eva, and myself (we took Maddie and Eva because they were going to the concert the same day and didn't have a ride). I had only had a few, albeit interesting, conversations with Maddie before, and I had never met Eva before, but we became really close on the extremely loooong car ride to NJ.

We actually were able to find decent parking for a Saturday in a huge city, so we were pretty happy ^.^ We got out of the car and started walking around. At this point, it was still light outside, so we had lots of time to explore the shops! Eva, who is taking a Buddhism class in college, found a Buddhist shop immediately, so we stopped there first. It was really interesting to see the pretty statues and fountains, and Eva told me about all of the different Buddhas! I had fun, and Momma got us little statues of the Happy Buddha. (I carried it around with me for a week after that xD)

We also found this cool dollar store there. Momma was happy, cause she loves American dollar stores, and now we had found one with a bunch of cool Asian stuff!! I really wanted to buy one of the cool parasols, but Momma told me to wait until we visited a few other stores before I made my final decision on what to buy. So we continued on.

By this time, it was sunset. Yes, we spent hours in just those stores. In our defense, there were a bunch of cool street vendors there, so it was really hard to go anywhere. Anyways, we went to a few other places as the sky started turning darker. I think the thing I loved most about Chinatown was the look of it. It was so pretty, especially in the sunset. The fiery orange of the sky accented the colors of the city well. It was sooo beautiful~

We ended up going to a Vietnamese restaurant, I think... It might have been Taiwanese. Idk. But the food was really good, and all of us were stealing each other's food just like a family x) And Maddie made me pour everyone's tea because I was the maknae. Leave it to her to find a Korean reference in anything... Then again, I squealed in delight when I saw the words "4 Minutes" on a phone booth (I was like "OMG, 4Minute!"), so I can't judge xD

What made my day was when I saw boxes of Palty hair dye in the window of a shop!! I screamed "Tsubasa!!!" and ran inside, pulling everyone behind me. When we got inside, the first floor had a bunch of cool food, and  when we went upstairs, they had every Asian beauty product you could imagine. There was a whole WALL of Palty hair dye. I just about died!! There was the original kind (all colors), the bubble kind, the American kind, all of them. Omg, I was so happy! And to top it off, I found all of the Dolly Wink eye products!! I really wanted a pair of fake eyelashes, but Momma said I'm too young to have it... Just wait, it'll happen. Maddie and Eva spent their time testing BB cream and nail polish, haha. We went downstairs and got a bunch of Japanese candy. Eva bought me Hello Kitty Pocky~ And my parents got me Sakuma Drops! I told them, "you have to get me these! I saw them in 'Grave of the Fireflies,' the saddest, most beautiful anime movie EVER!" So yeah. That was my favorite store. Don't remember the name though >.<

There was this one produce stand that all of us were fascinated by. Maddie, Eva, and I were looking at these HUUUUUGE apples, taking pictures and saying, "GD would have loved this back in his 'Heartbreaker' days!" My momma and Jim were looking at the dragon-fruit, and even bought one to bring home with us!

By the time we finished shopping (and has only gone, like, one or two blocks), it was completely black outside. The lights of the city looked beautiful in the night, even if you couldn't see the stars. The lights of Chinatown became the stars~

I hope you enjoyed my post! Sorry if it bored you, but I had a good time ^.^ Have a great day! Remember that every day is a beautiful one!

Review of Girls' Generation's "I Got a Boy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7ftOZBy0E

Hey, my California Rolls!

Girls’ Generation, GG, So Nyu Shi Dae, SNSD, Soshi, whatever you prefer, released their long- and largely-anticipated comeback video, “I Got a Boy,” on January 1^st, 2013. Let me tell you that, honestly, I have not been this excited about a comeback in all my fourteen years. Seriously. Before, I was just like “oh yay, *insert group name here* had a comeback, cool,” but with this comeback, I had gotten to the point of running back and forth through my kitchen, squealing. Even so, I can’t say I’m all too fond of “I Got a Boy” in general. And because I always give my honest, unbiased opinion on things, I’m going to say that I was truly a bit disappointed. Please don’t kill me, Sones. I’m on your side, I swear! Ask my friends, I fangirl to them about this group all the time! I’m just going to give my real, albeit blunt, opinion here.

As for the song itself… sorry, Girls, but I’m just not a fan. When I watched the MV for the first time, I was disheartened. The teasers sounded cool, and I was interested in their new song style, but the full song itself was nearly a train wreck (hides from Sones). There were, like, seven beats (yes, I counted), and even more melody changes. There was no possible way to make it flow smoothly. I’ll admit that the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. But that was a risky move on SM’s part. Think about it: if there’s a song that you’re neutral about at first, then it’s easy to hit the replay button and learn to love it. For me, those songs would be “Cherry Blossom Ending” by Busker Busker and “You’re the One” by JYP.  What about a song you hate at first? Don’t you avoid it? Exactly my point. Listen with your ears, not your bias. For the song, I’m giving it a 2 out of 5. Sorry. Wonderful singing, wonderful rapping, not-so-wonderful song. Just be glad the raps and Seohyun’s vocals saved it from a 1 out of five.

Now for the music video: I liked it. They look awesome (will elaborate later), and the cool, chic settings were fun to look at. I’m loving this style! I’m soooo happy they incorporated the “Dancing Queen” time-traveling concept! When I saw that MV, I was like “OMG it’s a mini-Tardis!” So yeah. It made me happy. The plot, though… well, I had some issues with it. In the teaser, I could tell it was an “all group members being played by the same player” sort of video, and I haven’t seen a good one of those since Miss A’s “Goodbye Baby.” The teaser played it off just as well, especially when Hyoyeon went all Jackie Chan and beat up that dude. It was awesome! Us girls and our sweet revenge~ In the actual MV, the plot was too vague for my liking, and there was only a tiny bit of Hyoyeon’s beat-down, so I was depressed in that department. This video gets a 3.5 out of 5.

Their style in this video completely blew me away! I’m in LOVE with their new look! I may miss the blue jeans and white shirts they sported when I was nine, but I’m glad to see that they have matured with me and have grown to bigger and better things. The outfits were all blinged out and were totally cool. The teaser photos were perfection. I really loved Taeyeon’s pic, and Yoona’s electric blue lenses made her look gorgeous. Tiffany and Jessica are our California goddesses, and I would be a complete liar if I said I didn’t want Hyoyeon’s hair. I’m sad that some of the wigs and outfits didn’t make it to the MV, but I’m impressed with the final results. Great going, coordinators. I give you 4.9 out of five. Sorry, Sunny’s clown-like green hair and those orange wigs at Tiffany’s solo part brought it down a bit.

Considering the hating I’ve done on the song and plot, I’m going to leave off on a super happy note-- the dancing. This might end up being my favorite dance of the Girls. The moves showed off the talent of their best dancers- Hyoyeon, Taeyeon, and Sooyoung, imo. They also fit well with the raps and made them even cooler. I adored the fact that they could somehow have so many different moves (hip-hop moves, cutesy “Oh!”-style moves, sexy hip rolls) and somehow smooth them together. Good job, Girls. Good job. Five out of five.

So, all in all, “I Got a Boy” gets a 3.8 out of five from me. Not their best work, but not the worst I’ve seen. I was disappointed in a few aspects, but other aspects partially made up for it. I hope I don’t have too many Sones after me because of this.

Have a spectacular day, everyone! Remember, everyday is a beautiful day!

Welcome!

Hello, my fellow lovers of the Asian culture!

You can call me Kiseki, or Kit-Kat if you prefer, and I'm the maker of this blog~ I hope that you'll enjoy my posts! In this one, I'll give you a run down of what you can expect from my blog, things I plan for the future, and even a little bit about me. let's be friends, 'kay? :)

So, a bit about myself: I'm a fourteen-year-old American girl, a freshmen and on the honor roll as well. I'm intelligent, work hard, and absolutely love anything that involves creativity. Drawing, painting, making jewelry and other crafts, dancing, singing, doing makeup, fashion, playing instruments, the list goes on. As you'll find out, I'm a blunt and painfully honest person. I have a little thing called Asperger's Syndrome which makes me this way. So, if you think for a second that all I talk about is the good in something, then you are terribly mistaken. But don't think that I'm a pessimist either-- I talk about the good AND the bad, is all. Every little detail will be included in my posts, okaaaaaay? Okaaaaaay!

From the previous paragraph, and my unique blog title, you may be wondering just what will be in my posts. Well, I'll tell you! Basically, anything that interests me in the Asian culture (keep in mind that I'm open to new ideas and suggestions!). It could be anime (what to watch, how to draw, etc.), Kpop, Jpop, Jrock, Visual Kei, Harajuku styles, Korean fashion, different makeup and outfits based on the previous things, Asian cuisine... a large variety of things. I like to keep my horizons open. I'm willing to go off into different directions as well, as long as it involves something about Asian culture, so feel free to spam me with ideas xD

I've already typed up my review for SNSD's "I Got a Boy," so I'll post that as soon as I've posted this. As for other future plans, I know that as soon as 2NE1 has their comeback, I'm jumping right onto a review of that!! As for other things, I might do a belated fan account of the BIGBANG concert in New Jersey, because I already posted it to Facebook. I also might do reviews for older Kpop songs too, so shoot your ideas out to me. After that, I may do makeup tutorials based on Asian fashion figures. Any other ideas guys?

That's about it for this post. Did I bore you too much? Sorry >.< I hope you read my future posts that and we can be friends! I wanna be friends with you (>^.^)>

Have a beautiful day! I always say that everyday is a beautiful day <3