Replay 💗

Oops I once again fell into that mentality of "I already have Twitter for light posts so I need something more substantial to write blogs;" "If I update my blog, I ought to address those heavier topics that have been on my mind;" which ends up uh..... gatekeeping myself from my own blog? lololol Something the other day reminded me that I still greatly cherish my blog—that I'd like to continue keeping it for a long time and that it can absolutely be my comfy space to post random, unimportant, lighthearted shit and rambles and whatever :D

Years ago I used to often post about my celebrity crushes so I've come here to say!!!!

Help, I fell in love with two people this week. o<-<

First is the person that inspired this post! Voice actor & singer Irino Miyu is someone I've admired ever since Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicle became my favorite anime character when I was in middle school—and I highly regret not closely following his career all these years.....

During Anime Expo in 2017, I got to attend his panel and had glowing things to say about him ;;;U;;; Though a confession: somehow I completely forgot I went and thought I imagined it lmao.... I just find it hard to believe that I was able to get into the panel—how long did I line up for?! I actually saw Irino Miyu himself in person!? And did I really go by myself ? ! ? Chiisa figured out the reason for this was because she was in Japan that year and not at AX which explains soooo much--- (also I hella laughed at this)

In catching up with Irino Miyu I discovered a few things that made my heart very happy . . .

First of all is that he still updates his blog..!! T__T 💕💕💕 The one that he's had since 2009!! I really admire when people stick to things for a long time, even if slowly but steadily. This alone has revitalized me and sealed this man into my good favor.

Secondly is that he's still been releasing music!! He's so damn talented—I did the math and it blows my minddddd that he was only 17 years old when he voiced Syaoran and not only was he an incredible seiyuu but also already a great singer even back then 😭💚 In 2020, he put out a full-length album titled "Life is..." that he says he poured his entire heart into and even wrote lyrics for a few songs! I love love love that he's still passionate about creating his art and music and everything he does feels so personal.

Crossfade for 「Life is...」

(the entire album can be listened to here!)

My favorite tracks in this album are probably "SKY" and "Alive" which are midtempo songs that touch your heart and tell you that you're not alone—and also "確かにそうだ" which is the energetic feel-good title track!

I think though my personal favorite of his music so far might be his "DARE TO DREAM" 2016 full-length album which is almost entirely upbeat with a lot of pop-rock and super enjoyable to listen to! This review describes its perfection perfectly. ✨

For a heartwrenching ballad, there's "誰からも愛されるあなたのように" from 2019 mini-album "Live Your Dream." It's sung beautifully and the bittersweet meaning stirs my heart. T__T Miyu's falsetto and vibrato are so pretty here....

🎵🎶

---

The other person I fell for this past week was the goddess Miyeon from girl group (G)I-DLE. 🥺💗 Her appearance in BTOB's amazing (& hilarious) performance of "Blue Moon" on Kingdom was gorgeous and I was curious about her chemistry with SF9's Hwiyoung in their web-drama REPLAY so started casually watching it.... and it was a cute and enjoyable little show! Short, sweet, and fun without dragging out the frustrating aspects ;u; Expectations were low because web-dramas do tend to be low budget and campy but it certainly exceeded them—I was pretty impressed by the cast's chemistry and acting, especially considering most of them are newbies.

Since I love K/DA and casually like (G)I-dle, I was always aware that Miyeon was pretty and had a nice voice but now after spending a series with her . . . . . see, it almost always feels rather unrealistic in dramas when all the characters act like a certain character is the center of the universe and they're just so outstandingly stunning and irresistibly charming that they're fought over and everyone in class/on the street stops to look at them and flowers appear when they smile 🌸. . . . . . . .

But with Miyeon, I believe it. What a face. What a nose.

Seriously, I've never seen anything like her nose before and apparently it can't even be achieved through plastic surgery T__T This girl was born to be a celebrity. All of her features are so pretty and I adore her dimples too.

But .. but no, she doesn't stop at just being visually astounding and having a great personality and sense of humor... She took on a new challenge of acting and is doing a wonderful job at it..... AND SHE'S THE MAIN VOCAL OF HER GROUP AAAAAA. SUCH GOALS.

Her OST "Dreaming About You" for the web-drama is so pretty TT I love how sweet & angelic her voice is here... Her timbre has such a nice texture and she emotes with her voice flawlessly. It's perfect.

And to flex on her versatility, there's her appearance on King of Masked Singer where she sings with a much darker and richer tone which is soooo cool... How is she real ??? And of course she's the perfect Ahri in K/DA!! Goals. Goals goals goals goals

---

SPEAKING OF K/DA, I've still been practicing the dance for "The Baddest" since last summer and I'm currently working on becoming more fit (I fell so out of shape and health orz) and would like to try filming some short dance covers soon !!

Actually as of this week I'm currently debating whether I want to attempt doing the dance while singing & rapping the song live too 😳 or just purely focus on getting the dance right since it's not like that's a strong point of mine. The former will take a lot more practice and time probably... But the fact that I can consider it is kind of amazing?! When I first began learning the song, my initial intention was to practice singing while dancing but because it was such a struggle I dropped the singing—and now I tried it and I think I can hold up better than before; I was pleasantly shocked...... idk!!!

CODEX Asymmetry

AAAAAAH HI I've been very occupied lately with working on the coverthatI'muploadinglatertoday but before that goes up, I wanted to take a moment at this absolutely incomprehensible hour of 3 AM to give this collab its own post because it deserves the world!!!! 😭💕 A whole dream come true!!!

I've mentioned the group CYPHER here a few times before—while I was participating in the same chorus battle as them... standing outside the restaurant window during their group dinner at AX... (LOL OKAY FOR CLARITY I was also actually invited but had to pass it up for our Gemini group dinner 💗)—I've just genuinely been such a huge fan of them since they first formed for ACB1.

The six vocalist boys have this magical chemistry and it's amazing that they each have different personalities to their voices but they all come together into a charming blend, and they sing with so much emotion that you can't not be drawn into their world. (Some emotional favorites: W, Our Sky) And then they always have the best visuals sdjkfslkd just out of this world... Their artists do gorgeous work and Howl is an animation visionary... And for ACB2, they came back and did self-written original songs for all three rounds which is just insane and they're fucking legit amazing songs 😭 Truly I admire every single one of them to the moon and back.... An extremely skilled collective of people who are also really cool?! I'm definitely privileged to be friends with all of them and to be able to hang out with them in person. They are really such a good group. The pinnacle of both quality and heart. I can't fangirl enough over them, sorry. #HailCypher

yaaaaaaaa sooooooooooooooooooo I think it was back in October or something when I was in a car with Fome and Chiisana, and Fome suddenly asks us if we'd sing in SCB3 with Cypher lol. I was like WHAT I CAN'T DO THAT. WHAT???? NO.... I DON'T KNOW...... and there's just been a whole lot of self-esteem attacking since and working on my singing and my Japanese pronunciation, and I'm honestly still personally not satisfied with how I sound in our entry but I'm extremely glad that I joined them in the end. ;;;; It was super well received and so far no complaints about me!

It's been a lot of fun!! Everyone is lovely and hilarious and our entry is freaking.....my favorite thing ever.............I just love it, I love it, I love it so much, I love it waaaaay too much. T___T 💞 The song is wonderful; the visuals are beautiful and bright and fun and creative and engaging and impeccably polished and also my taste in colors djkdfjs; it's a sweet spectrum of voices full of personality and all masterfully mixed together into a massive dosage of serotonin.

Please enjoy our cover of Yasuda Rei's social media-themed song "Asymmetry" !

✜ Vocals by: Angelica: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRI1... Arianna: https://www.youtube.com/user/AcchanCh... Chiisana: https://www.youtube.com/user/Chiisana... Eva: https://www.youtube.com/waterpixieva Howl: https://youtube.com/c/howru Jae: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNMrzPwk... Kuraicy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVqO... SquaDus: https://youtube.com/user/SquaDus2007 ✜ Mix by: Fome https://www.youtube.com/fome Critique by Eva and Kuraicy ✜ Movie by: Bakyaan: https://www.youtube.com/user/bakyaan ✜ Art by: Yuki (Character Art): http://yukihomu.deviantart.com/ Chisacha (Staff Art & Props): https://chisacha.deviantart.com

~✨~✨~

And I thought things couldn't get better.....but no.....but no..... Arianna had to go and combine some of my favorite people....with my favorite game..... And drew this adorable piece of us all (staff included!) as Animal Crossing characters, I caaaan't 😭😭😭

Thanks for all the support for CODEX unit~ 💕
Let's add some more cuteness with a really fast Animal Crossing version of us i i did for fun hahaha ✨💖 pic.twitter.com/mSV0Ukm0UH

— 伯爵 Arianna 🌸 CODEX (@Hakushaku_Ari) February 26, 2020

Yuki - Chisacha - Bakyaan - Squadus - Kura - Howl - Arianna - Angelica - Jae - Fome - Eva - Chiisana

Now, you, me, and everything feels like a lie... 🎶 Is it a dream? 💞

So in October, it was announced that my favorite k-pop group Lovelyz would be coming to LA for a concert in November! Somehow, both times they've ever had activities in America have been this year in LA..... and both times, the concerts were announced a cruel mere month prior. ToT Initially I was like, "WHAT I probably shouldn't yolo down to LA again for a concert," for maybe like...10 minutes before it became, "But why not?" As a member of their relatively small western fanbase, I'd definitely regret not being there to support my girls 💪! Y-you can always make money back anyway right? o(-(

Luckily it turned out to be a pretty wallet-friendly trip. ^^ The concert, which also featured JBJ95 and Heize, for whatever reason was free to attend?! I went with my friend Tiffany—who's my only irl Lovelinus friend—and also Myst who was heading to LA for her own playtime, so we made a roadtrip down together and shared a motel. It was a fun little weekend trip with good music, good food, and good friends!

As I mentioned, I've only ever known one person irl who's a Lovelyz fan, aside from Chiisana who likes them but isn't necessarily a Lovelinus. Even given that, Tiffany and I had never actually attended a concert together before. But on this trip I was introduced to two more wonderful friends who are Lovelinuses!!!! It was sooooo much fun and so refreshing to be around them and talk about our girls and for everyone to be on the same page without explanations and just being able to share our excitement and practice fanchants together! 💓

Thanks to these friends kindly waiting in line early—and no monetary restrictions—we were luckily able to have some amazing seats! Honestly so grateful; I owe them my life. The poor folks all the way in the back probably saw nothing as there were no cameras/screens.. But we were able to see the performers' expressions, so therefore they must've been able to see ours too! 🥰

And the moment I realized this...... that Lovelyz could see me, that I was now an existence known to my beloved idols that I'd only ever in these past 5 years been able to admire from afar, that my actions and support might really be felt by them directly, that I had the power to help them feel loved by their fans and give back to how much strength they've given us, that I was truly in that moment a representative of their American fanbase.......... I almost cried while they were performing.

It was a small concert with only 3 acts, but because of that we were treated to a long set with SIX WHOLE SONGS!! 😭 What an amazing experience....

One of the things I love the most about Lovelyz is that their title discography tells a whole story. It's brilliant and it's been so incredible to watch this beautifully thoughtful music project unfold.

Candy Jelly Love --- Crush
Hi~ --- Confession
Ah-Choo --- Friendzoned
Destiny --- Jealousy
WoW! --- Distance
Now, We --- FINALLY A MUTUAL LOVE!!!
Twinkle --- Exploring the relationship
That Day --- Break-up
Lost N Found --- Loneliness
Beautiful Days --- Reminiscence

KCON LA 2019 ✨ Photo Blog

💕💕💕 My fifth year attending KCON and I'm still impressed at how I almost always have a good time as long as the ticket wars don't kill me! This year's lineup included two of my favorite girl groups (IZ*ONE and LOONA) and just overall most things were really fun and reasonably well executed in my opinion! It's still insane that simply at the convention itself—before you even make it to the concerts—you can encounter a ton of idols, listen to their special talks, potentially interact with them. ;u; I find some panels pretty interesting and I really enjoy exploring the expo with all the free beauty and food samples and loads of unbelievably delicious sales!! It's just become a no-brainer for me to go every year LOL.

Artists that we saw this year!!!

💘 Owns my soul probably: IZ*ONE, LOONA

💕 Love~: fromis_9, SF9

🌸 Like: NU'EST, Mamamoo, Itzy, Seventeen

👌 I guess I like?: N.Flying, AB6IX

🔍 Interested in learning more: ATEEZ, Stray Kids

😊 Neutral: Momoland, Verivery

Just like me, this post is long and messy—sorry, not sorry.

Avengers: Endgame Opinion Dump

[from the official iOS stickers]

📛 SPOILER ALERT 📛 SPOILER ALERT 📛 SPOILER ALERT 📛

A world in color 🌈✨

Under the jump:
🌟 haircut selfie dump... again :'D
🌟 K/DA progress! + lung update
🌟 Irozuku, the anime I'm currently watching that's already entered my eternal top faves T__T 💖💖💖

and don't let go 'cause you're my star~

WOW HEY, LOOK WHO HAS FREE TIME TODAY!! TO BLOG!!!! The bright side of some things not working out is that I get a bit of chill time, instead of being constantly burnt out while AX looms dangerously closer. I've also been working hard on 3 really, incredibly big videos at work (as in, they're going to be shown to 140,000 people.....) and I'm finally almost done! So close! Fingers crossed that there are no more/minimal last minute changes, so that on Monday morning I can simply export final versions and be free of deadline stress ^^;;

(skip to 0:40)

I'd say the only kind of significant thing that really happened between my last post and now is that I fell down the Produce48 hole, but it's a fluffy nice hole and I'm not going to get out. Somehow after watching episode 2—which the girls spent learning to sing and dance Nekkoya (Pick Me), their theme song—I felt this burst of inspiration to try to learn the dance... And this is coming off of feeling disheartened about my dancing, losing all of my confidence in it, becoming scared again about doing it around people, thinking that I'd probably never get to a presentable level no matter how I try because I have no idea how to fix the fact that my movements are fucking awkward and uncontrolled and blahhhh. Anyway, I still got off my ass and tried to dance that night, and I'm glad that even though I looked like absolute shit—really like a giant long piece of shit dangling from a wire during a typhoon, the worst—I did enjoy doing it.

It's been a few days of slowly kind of trying to practice the chorus arm movements, and...I almost kind of want to say that I'd like to keep trying to work at this dance? I was thinking to aim for being able to comfortably dance it by the end of Produce48's run. But idk. It could end up being a goal I drop just like other goals I've dropped. (coughs at practicing the Bad Boy dance)

I did realize today though that there were two big things that I cowardly ragequit simply because I was bad at them: animating and dancing. I used to make all the videos for Gemini until I couldn't keep up at all with animations and aesthetic, and decided it was better for me to not do it anymore. I've also uploaded a couple of bad dance covers back in the dark ages, which I took down. I definitely told myself, "I'm never going to do a dance cover again." But.....ya girl is back to badly animating and reaallyyy terribly attempting to move her body in a way that vaguely resembles dance, so IF IT ALL CANCELS OUT I'M NOT A COWARDLY QUITTER AFTER ALL I THINK???


Ever since it was announced, I had my doubts about Produce48—especially coming off of watching Produce 101 China, which was also girls except it's an incredibly frustrating show... But there's something magical about Produce48 for me. I forgot how much I liked AKB48. My interest in Japanese idols waned a ton; but at one point, idols like Hello!Project and AKB were my life... When I was in middle school, I thought I would try to audition for a H!P global audition if they ever held one. Even as I was starting to become interested in k-pop, my dumb fantasy then was to get into SM Ent and be part of a Japan-centric group. (Interestingly, they never did come out with one since they've dedicated themselves to tackling China, so I guess I don't have to regret not trying that path lolol.)

We were all grimacing in expectation of the AKB girls being one-sidedly humiliated on this show where they were up against Korean trainees who're part of this extremely cutthroat, systematic bootcamp where you're either the best or not good enough. It's easy to compare the foundations of their skills and see the imbalance. But what I'm loving is that people are discovering what makes the AKB girls so well-loved despite that, and that there's something the Korean trainees can learn from them too to make their performances more compelling. A lot of the AKB girls just sparkle when they perform—they're so full of charm and energy that you can't help but enjoy seeing them enjoy themselves and do their best. I'm finding that I'd personally rather watch a lot of them than the girls whose moves are more accurate. Perhaps that's some of the appeal of the "girl next door" concept, but this kind of thing gave me hope in middle school when I had no skills but didn't close the door on myself anyway.

Maybe it's giving me that same hope again? Obviously not to pursue an idol career or any kind of performance career, heeeelllll no, but I spent the past few days trying to sort of dance and I'm also memorizing both the Korean and Japanese lyrics (I never actively try to memorize lyrics lol) and now I think, "Maybe I will try to do a dance cover again."


Under the cut, I'mma briefly talk about my faves on the show LOL.

babbie's first dance class and power rangers

Just wanted to write this down so that I'll have a reminder of it later on! Last week, I went to my first everrrr dance class. @A@ It was an "all levels" K-pop dance class that I attended with friends Chiisana, Chris, Gino, Kyle, and David. It was uh...not an easy decision to go for it—I've improved tons but I'm still not totally comfortable with putting myself out there physically and being watched, and even worse, being evaluated...... I feel like my body and my movements are awkward, I don't have experience with dancing, I'm a pretty slow learner and have a hard time seeing movements and interpreting how to imitate them, and I have very little physical strength and endurance asldkfjsdlfj BUT I STILL WENT so I guess I overcame something. o^o The class was hard!!! I struggled the whole time to keep up and limped from soreness for nearly a week. My legs have never felt this sort of excruciating burn before. We learned Pristin's "Weewoo," which I love but never expected could give me this much pain and could bruise my knees so terribly. So yeah!! Starting the year sorta with trying a new thing!!! Friends seem interested in attending more k-pop classes, but it will depend for me on whether it's a girl group dance or boy group dance, because the former usually means more fun putting in expressive character while I think I might collapse attempting the latter lololol.



Also this is the most random and dorky thing, but at this very moment this is what I'm obsessed with LMAO.

"Power Rangers Dino Force Brave [ENDING]"

Palette

Mimi gave me watercolor pencils for my birthday so I've been giving that a try even though I totally lack artistic and aesthetic skill haha. It's been a nice thing to do as I'm trying to rest when I'm not working. 

Last Friday, I got back from a weeklong business trip to LA where I worked on videos that were shown before audiences of 2000+ people. ;u; That's huge—and so was the screen it played on... All of the footage was shot in 4K in order to be big enough. I was the on-site producer/sometimes camera op/sometimes director for a video that included high school finalists from the 78 countries that made it to the top of a science competition, which meant long days spent standing but it was fun and rewarding! Afterwards, I edited the video shown during the closing ceremony that summed up the kids' week and their awesome experience and achievements. ^^

The reward and being proud of the students aside, it was really exhausting. I still hadn't recovered from being previously tired, so I was in poor condition to work a taxing, stressful, little-sleep, nonstop week. ;; It was probably the physically and mentally crappiest I've felt in...I can't remember. Unfortunately I have a lot of work left these next two weeks, so I can't take a vacation, but I'm trying to rest when I'm off work at least.

This is my first piece (through which I found out I have no idea how watercolor works lolol) and kindergarten-doodle-lookin' practice from Saturday..

Today, I tried to draw a palette.

I've been obsessed with IU's new song "Palette" ;v; It's a song about being 25, but that's Korean age so even though I consider myself 24, I'm technically the same age as IU! There's something mystical about her music where it feels relatable even though you can't actually relate.

Yesterday, I watched IU's LieV, which is a live broadcast that airs Sunday nights in Korea designed to help one sleep in peace despite Monday blues. A celebrity (or multiple, but the effect is very different) carries out the show lying down on a bed, and they talk comfortably for an hour about whatever they want, while reading comments from fans. I love love love this concept! Certain ones I listen to regularly to fall asleep. ^^

IU's shed a lot of light on me as to what kind of person and musician she is, and I've so much newfound respect and love for her. <3 It's no wonder everybody admires her~ I could go on and on now about how pretty it is that she loves her music and is passionate about making music and writing lyrics that tell a story, and how down to earth she is especially considering her fame, and how awesomely candid she's become, and how thoughtful and talented and—oops I'm going on and on. She's amazing and there's much to be learned from/about her.

In her LieV, she discusses inspirations for her songwriting, especially for Palette. One of the things she did during her hiatus was take art lessons, although she claims to be bad at drawing haha. She said that rather than the painting, she had more interest in the paint palette—which one can think of as just a tool to make art, but she thinks that it can be considered artwork itself, with its variously pretty colors and endless possibilities.

She then relates the palette to herself and says, "Rather than painting each and every color to show you, I wanted to show you the palette that I am," which I thought was fascinating but didn't really understand. *^* I'm still trying to digest it, but right now this is my guess... I think one way she meant that was to say that while her songs are great and her repertoire has some diverse colors/genres, she wants to show that she—the songwriter behind the songs—is the true work of art. I think she wants people to understand her identity stripped of the veil the stardom, and the complexity of the work she puts into her music, how all those contrasting images are all a part of her, and how she's got endless possibilities. 

Now I'm just geeking because nobody's stopping me from typing sorry!!! But she's so cool!! The song "Palette" is interesting because it's so IU-identity-centric and personal... It's brave and thoughtful. G-Dragon's rap part is a message to IU talking about how she's at the age where she's shining, how it's tough being not quite a child or an adult, and persuades her that she's beautiful and blooming. In the live performances, she does the rap herself while replacing some of the lyrics, but still addresses herself with a message. This song is really all about giving the audience a window into what she's like, her thoughts, her interests, how she's changed in the past few years, how she's accepted that people will hate or love her, how she feels like she's growing into her own skin. Ugh!!! How cool is she!!

B1A4 Concert!!

(Not so much a fan account, but more about my personal experience!)

Yesterday was B1A4's concert was in San Francisco ^o^ Myst and I both went as VIP so got to be in the front pit and participate in the hi touch (high five) event!!!

Honestly, I think the concert was the most unreserved fun I've had in a long time. Which is both a testament to how great of a concert it was and how little fun I have in my life.

The boys put on impressive performances, delivering solid dancing and singing (esp Sandeul belting my god!!!!) with incredible endurance. ;u; They were visibly tired but kept going and delivering and were full of energy til the end! But I think what was really special was that they put a lot of care into making sure that the audience had a fun, engaged experience. We weren't just watching them perform; we were constantly interacting and encouraged to respond. For most of the concert, it was a lot of asking us to sing along, scream, put our hands up, wave and pump our arms, jump while they were performing.

Then what confused me was when we got to a song that didn't include much of them singing or dancing? It was.....intense clubby music? The boys were all jumping and hyping us up, and we were all jumping too, AND THEN THEY STARTED EMPTYING THEIR WATER BOTTLES....ONTO THE AUDIENCE. Water! spraying! everywhere!!! It felt like a rave?! (We found out afterwards that it was a song remixed by Jinyoung LOLLLLL)

At that point, it was no longer just a B1A4 performance—it was B1A4 members constructing an environment in which we fans could let loose and have a good time! I really think that they didn't want any of us to just stand or sit idly, didn't want us to just be absorbed in taking pics/videos on our phones, didn't want us to just be observers. I appreciated that a lot ^^

I don't really ever get (or pursue) opportunities to just let go and let my body move and just have unreserved fun... I refuse to dance because I'm bad at it and I don't like how my awkward body looks when moving around, and I just get consumed by self-consciousness and the judging eyes of other people. The dance floor is place of anxiety for my party-poopin' ass.
But at the concert, I felt...safe? An unfamiliar feeling of few inhibitions and not needing to care about what I looked like or what anyone thought of me. All I had to do was jump and wave my arms, all I had to respond to was the beat of the music, and the entire audience was in it together to show our support for B1A4 who wanted to give back to us ;A; It was a great stress relief HAHA.

During their encore, they came out with crates of water bottles and WENT HAM. "San Francisco, are you tired?!?! Are you ready to shower?????!!?!?!!" were the words they'd fill the room with before repeating the chorus of Good Timing over.. and over.. and over.. and DRENCHING us with water and love LOL. Objectively, I know they went overboard and probably shouldn't have, but... I ultimately didn't have any problem with it and just enjoyed it. ;v;! At first, I did my best to avoid the water because of protective reflex—I'd flinch and duck, cover my face, and clean off my glasses as soon as I could. But then I zoned out for a moment and thought about it......... and concluded that I didn't have any reason to avoid the water? Unlike many fans in the front, I didn't have my phone out trying to get recordings. I didn't have a face full of make-up to worry about. My hair doesn't get frizzy. All of my belongings were covered because I was expecting rain. I wasn't sick, wasn't feeling cold. Why be afraid?

So from then on, I kept my head up and just smiled and laughed like what B1A4 would probably have wanted to see from us. Was so soaked!!! It's such a small change, but I was very happy and proud that I chose to let go and embrace the fun, messy, in-the-moment thing, instead of clinging to the pragmatic route as I always do. In the end, I had no personal qualms about the downpour and surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it. ;U;

Oh and they just absolutely spoil us with fanservice. <3 It warms my heart remembering all of their sincere gestures, and how they were constantly waving to fans all over the venue, giving us endless finger hearts, making eye contact if possible (I swear I made eye contact with CNU for a moment), posing with fans' banners and headbands, reminding us that we were loved and appreciated. This is the kind of memory that's going to make me smile each time it crosses my mind.

Here's B1A4's newest song, A Lie, composed by leader and my bias Jinyoung~ On first listen, I was rather lukewarm, but it consistently grew on me and now I'M SO EMOTIONAL OVER THIS SONG. (If you're new to their music, their songs tend to land on very opposite sides of the melancholic-silly spectrum haha. Solo Day is a jam!)

On today's episode of Lovelyz Inspires and Heals Me

For the past 11 weeks, I've been following the show Girl Spirit, and it's been such a wonderful run that I'm sad to see these girls go. (We're promised more seasons to come but I'm expecting a different cast.) The show features the main vocalists of 12 girl groups that have yet to win #1 on a music show and gives them their own stage for exposure. I love all the girls—they're so talented and sweet—but without a doubt, my favorite would have been Kei even if Lovelyz weren't my favorite group. ♥ *___* She's so inspiring! Goddess! Such goals! She keeps challenging herself and improving with no end to her potential! With her pure angelic voice, you wouldn't expect the amount of depth she's able to harness. She sings with so much sincere emotion, and her natural personality is just always positive, warm, and bright.

Now that the show's over, I think I can say that her performance in episode 9 of "My Voice" and "If You Just Live" (both from the musical Seopyeonjae) is probably my favorite of hers, although all of her performances have been incredible. What an uphill climb from the first episode until this point..! Literally all of her performances are worth watching.

If you like girl groups, I would definitely recommend this show; but if not, this is the context. ^^ The theme of the episode is Thank You Song, and Kei has decided to dedicate her performance to her mother. "The lyrics really touched my heart. Whenever I wanted to give up, my mother always told me that time will solve it. So she told me to keep going without being disheartened."

With my limited Korean and varying translations, I can't be certain that I'm understanding the nuances accurately—but I love what I can feel of the essence of the song's meaning. I interpret the lyrics as saying... that as long as you push through and survive, you'll be okay and things will get better. If you just keep living and don't give up, you'll learn to able to truly live. ♥

Really, what an epic performance..! It's heartbreaking and empowering, like the warmth and comfort of a small, persistent flame when entrapped in ice. Kei looks fragile; but with how much strength she displays, how can you not find her admirable?

And if you're not touched yet!!!! The dancer is her older sister. She did the choreography and the stage setting! These talented siblings are performing together for their mother! It just makes the "motherly figure" that she's playing feel so much more real and heartwrenching. This stage feels like a musical and I love it ;__; Oh my god, how tearjerking is it when Kei sings the line, "Don't cry because you are alone," after her sister leaves the stage?



Speaking of tearjerking, the other show I've been following is Real Men's currently airing special (starting episode 172), which features male and female celebrities as they join the Navy and.... suffer... and suffer..... and continue to suffer. Wow. I don't think I would ever last in the Navy.

One of the cast members is Jisoo from Lovelyz, and I couldn't be fucking happier that she's on this show. I'm really glad that Lovelyz members are starting to have activities as individuals; it means they're finally being recognized as deserved. <3 Jisoo is especially underrated, and I believe this is Jisoo's first time being on a show by herself. She seems to have gotten a good response! There's a lot more support for her now, which is a beautiful thing. I'm glad it's this show too because she's been able to show how much of a strong spirit she has.

Episode 175 struck me especially hard, when they all had to make a 10 meter dive as training for abandon ship measures. You can watch Jisoo's cut here, but unfortunately it's not subbed.

Jisoo is afraid of water.... so watching her overcome this challenge was aslkfjsdfl Q___Q I was a choked up mess the first time. Among the 3 women who were afraid of water/heights, she was the first one to dive. She cries the entire time: before the jump, during it, afterwards. But even though she keeps crying harder and harder up there, she just grits her teeth, tries her best, and remembers to follow proper procedure. When the commander blows his whistle, she doesn't hesitate to shout, "Cadet Seo Ji Soo, ready to jump!" trying to sound confident even though her voice was cracking. Q_Q Or is that the sound of my heart cracking?

She then says that she misses her parents and the other Lovelyz members, before shouting, "I CAN DO IT!" And she conquers it!!! I'm so proud of her ;_; She makes me feel that I should try to be more fearless too.

drown me in the umi

HOLY SHIT. After 7 and a half weeks of not having wifi, the drought is finally over!!! I've already published 2 posts today but...throws more at blog.....


Yesterday I uploaded a video of when I scouted in Love Live! School Idol Festival to get the new Marine/Sailor Umi UR........ what is my life...........

Look at how precious this is Q___Q

On a very unrelated note,
I finally updated my youtube icon after 6 years lmao. Such creative.

Lovelyz - Destiny (A New Trilogy)

YESSSSS my princesses Lovelyz have made their comeback!! This gross fangirl is very happy with it *u* They've grown so much since Candy Jelly Love but I love that they still have a distinct sound. It's rich, intricate, soothing, a bit retro, melodic, feminine, and innocent/cute without being obnoxious. And what really makes their music unique is that there's always some melancholic undertone or twist that adds depth behind the seemingly sweet songs. Not to mention digipedi who's been behind all of their MVs expertly reflects all of this in their visuals for an amazing Lovelyz brand of aesthetic.

But this time with Destiny (My Earth) they've really embraced melancholic—and it's pretty reminiscent of their "big brother group" Infinite's sound but more of a feminine take of it. And that's awesome aaaaa

Also loving the extended metaphor ;u; The lyrics are basically: Why do you circle around her (the sun) when I revolve around you like the moon? You're my earth and the gravity that pulls me. I wish I could stand between you and her, and give you a ring of light. (INSERT GRAPHICS OF SOLAR ECLIPSE)

01. Moonrise - 00:00
02. Destiny (My Earth) - 00:41
03. Splash - 04:15
04. Bookmark - 07:46
05. 1cm - 11:18
06. Take Care of My Heart - 15:01
07. Doll - 18:57

I haven't yet listened to the rest of the album (A New Trilogy) enough to really know it, but I like it so far! Some parts feel bland but I'll see how my feelings change when lyric translations are out.
Some fans have said that there's kind of a Clamp vibe? Lovelyz' sound has always leaned more J-pop than K-pop, but AS THE HUGE CLAMP FAN I AM, this delights the fuck out of me!!! I think I do hear it at times!

For me, the album standouts include Bookmark (07:46) for those who like sentimental ballads and drama OSTs, and Babysoul does a soft rap in it! It's like the second coming of Circle, which is a great song ^^ and coincidentally has a lot of meaning overlaps with Destiny.

1cm (11:18) isn't one of my favorites so far but I like the quirky retro video game-sounding synths. Kind of like the Ah-Choo intro. And this one kind of makes me think of Cardcaptor Sakura by Clamp which is a win to me..!

Take Care of My Heart (15:01) is growing on me a lot. The verses are undeniably Lovelyz style, and then the chorus is catchy and uplifting!

AND WE CAN'T NOT TALK ABOUT Doll (18:57)—the song behind Lovelyz' ethereal, film aesthetic, somewhat eerie Prologue Film with lyrics like "I can't fall sleep yet you dream peacefully without me. I'm your doll in the corner of the room, quietly waiting for you." But I feel like without the mysterious-looking video, the eerie effect has mostly dissipated and now it just feels like a heartbroken fairytale lullaby song, and FUCK YEAH I HELLA DIG THAT. It sounds so soothing!

Hmmmm I don't think I'm going to try to cover any of these songs like I did with For You unfortunately ahah. No time to work on a solo, and none of them are screaming at me to sing them. xD But I will enjoy listening~ Can't wait for the second and third legs of Lovelyz' new trilogy. ^^

[Fan Account] Apink Concert in San Francisco

Today I had the honor of attending Apink's concert in San Francisco for their North American tour, Pink MEMORY!! ^^ I'm exhausted now, but I had a blast at the show.

I'll be posting all about the experience I had~
There may be some "well, duh" things though because I went in not having read about anything from previous legs of the tour, and I also haven't watched all of Apink's shows so I'm not an expert on their personalities?

KCON LA 2015!

I just went to my first KCON! And now I wonder why I've never gone to KCON before because holy shit, it is such an unforgettable experience. I went with Chiisana and our friend Dres, and the funny thing is that Chiisa and I are known for having very bad luck—especially together. The drive from Norcal to LA is supposed to take 6-7 hours, but guess who had to endure a 10 hour drive through traffic hell with a lovely view of mountain wildfires.... ;x;
And somehow, KCON itself went .. beyond smoothly for us. In fact, it went super well!

So here's my KCON experience complete with shaky pictures and scream-ridden fancams ^^

If You Can Dream

My friends are so maso wtf. I really didn't expect to receive Ice Cream Cake, but I expected even LESS that that present was partially to throw me off the trail of ANOTHER epic birthday present?!

So a few months ago, Erin asked me to fill in for her If You Can Dream collab because her Ariel "dropped out last minute." Of course I said yes because I love Erin (she's the sweetest), I'm still obsessed with Disney Princesses (I own the DVD that has the MV for the song), I love the song (attempted a collab of it in 2007), and Ariel is my absolute FAAAAAAVORITE. *^*

Fast forward to Fanime last weekend.
I'm getting milkshakes with Chiisana, Sophie/Kuroko, Fome, Dibur, and Yano. Suddenly Sophie hands me her phone and earbuds, and tells me she has something to show me.

......???
A video starts. Wait. Ryan. Is this the Ryan I know? WHOA, NOW EVEN JEFFREY... AND JAY........ IS THIS ANOTHER GEMINI THING HOLY SHIT?!
Then the intro song ends and the title for If You Can Dream comes up.
My first reaction: "WHAT!!! YOU GUYS SANG THIS SONG WITHOUT ME?!"
.........
..................
=____=;;;;; They're so sneaky. Suuuuch tricksters. Wow.

Seriously though aaaaa what an epic collab! All of my precious Gemini family, and sweeties Erin and Robby who featured in Gemini's PonPonPon, and the talented members of NYA (NorCal Youtube Alliance) who I hang out with irl?! And the insanely adorable art is by Aaron and Kanso who I adore and got to see last weekend too?! Jackpot. Man, I'm so lucky!!

Everyone sounds so goooood!! Really, not a single weak spot imo. Mix and video are flawfree; I love the unexpected blend in vocals and the touch of the silhouettes. So many of my friends came together for this—I can't believe it. And it's NYA's first completed collab too! I love it to bitssssss *u* I've had it on repeat since last week~ It's such an honor to receive something so lovely ;A;

I'm gonna shamelessly point out that my most repeated part tbh is the part near the end with Chris/Hakuro's solo followed by Jeffrey's because KRISTOFF x SVEN OTP (the! adorable! art! doesn't! help!) and they're both the precious young boy characters of NYA and Gemini respectively who are blossoming into young men before our eyes QuQ;;.... Pets them both.... And AAAAgh they sound so good I squeal. I've never heard Chris belt or falsetto like that before and it sounds wonderful/// and then rings in Jeffrey's heavenly voice that I may or may not have once had a slight voice crush over before...... I'm just gonna go hide in a corner now so please treat yourself to this beautiful piece!

【GemiNYA】 If You Can Dream 「HBD Eva! 」

Vocals (In Order of Appearance)

Mickey Mouse - Ryan https://www.youtube.com/user/RyanEatPho 
Sven - Jeffrey https://www.youtube.com/user/jevacado 
Jiminy Cricket - Jay https://www.youtube.com/user/jaysingyou 

Ariel - Eva https://www.youtube.com/user/waterpix...
Jasmine - Mimi https://www.youtube.com/user/mimimois...
Aladdin - Robby https://www.youtube.com/user/llfyrell 
Pocahontas - Lucy https://www.youtube.com/user/Lyrratic 
Elsa - Yano https://www.youtube.com/user/yanoviP 
Anna - Karu https://www.youtube.com/user/karufuruu 
Olaf - Dibur https://www.youtube.com/user/diburmak... 
Cinderella - Erin https://www.youtube.com/user/RamenBlo... 
Prince Charming - Shades https://www.youtube.com/user/ShadesDa... 
Belle - Chiisa https://www.youtube.com/user/Chiisana... 
Beast - Kazou https://www.youtube.com/user/soundmut... 
John Smith - Chishio https://www.youtube.com/user/ChishioYT 
Kristoff - Hakuro https://www.youtube.com/user/ItsHakuro 
Prince Eric - Fome https://www.youtube.com/user/Fome 

===

Illustrations:
Aaron http://aeror404.deviantart.com/
Kanso @kanso_sp

Animation: 
Kuroko https://www.youtube.com/user/backstag...
Diji https://www.youtube.com/user/dijidori

Mix: Mimi, Ryan, Chiisa, Fome

~

Honestly, the sole reason for the delay in making this post was because I didn't have time until today to sit down and combine all the art together into one image.
LET US APPRECIATE THIS ENDLESSLY ADORABLE ART * 7 * !!

ლ(१д१ლ)

Kei (left) & Soojung (right) of Lovelyz covering IU's "Friday"

Aaaaaah I'm so glad I found this little gem of a video.

The girlcrush is undeniably strong with this one! ლ(१д१ლ)
I knew I was right to choose Soojung/Sujeong as my bias LOLOL.. Okay, it was initially because she reminds me of Morning Musume's Kudou Haruka and I find them both to be the most adorable, gorgeous things /// but then she comes out of the left field as a really fucking good singer?! with a singing style I will eat up. (Not to mention a grounded, earnest personality..)

Kei almost flawlessly plays the role of main vocal, of course; bless her entire being. Baby Soul and Jin, whose vocals were advertised prior, are predictably leads. But Soojung is the surprise! Especially when she's one of the youngest members. She sometimes gets pitchy on certain notes when performing Lovelyz songs (tbh all of them get somewhat pitchy so I look forward to seeing them not as nervous rookies on stage) but seems a lot more in her own skin here. :> I'm so glad they let her debut and give her opportunities to shine. THIS MAKES ME HAPPY.

Lovelyz

Oh help, I'm starting to fall very deeply into Woollim's new girl group Lovelyz, LOL. I haven't been this invested in k-pop in a while. I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT. THIS IS MY INTERVENTION.

The horrible group name itself makes them a guilty pleasure. Their music so far as a group is pretty basic and nothing to write home about. They're what lots of people would consider "bland" and overly cutesy. BUT I HAVE THE EXACT ACQUIRED TASTE THAT FINDS THEM AND THEIR MUSIC SO CHARMING AND DELICIOUS. SOBS. Actually their very image and the sound of their bubblegum pop has a very J-pop and slightly old-school feel to it. And I like that a lot....


Candy Jelly Love

This won me over almost instantaneously because I have hella bias for cute candies. I LOVE the style of the MV with the bright boldness of the jellybeans contrasting and complimenting the light pastel colors and flowy whites with soft flares. YES. YESS.
First and second listens: "This is ok. I can probably dig."
Now: "THIS IS MY JAAAAAM."


Good Night Like Yesterday

First listen: "Who are they this is boring and I can't even watch this all the way."
Now: "SO....... CATCHY...... NEED TO LISTEN ON REPEAT."
Objectively not the best ballad, but ... my acquired taste loves it. Also it helps now knowing who the girls are because I can put the singing in some kind of context and thus appreciate it better.



Initially, most of them look like the same person, their voices sound dry and the same, and they kind of give off the impression of not being musically driven. qqqqq now I find them super cute in their unique ways and you know what: THEY ACTUALLY CAN SING SURPRISINGLY PRETTY WELL.

So, 3 of them have had solo debuts before.
One being Yoo Jiae, who honestly is one of the weakest vocalists of the group. Despite being the well-known frontrunner face, I'm glad that Woollim seems to acknowledge her weaknesses instead of trying to shove her down our throats. xD In Candy Jelly Love, her only lines are.. the titular "candy jelly love"s at the choruses HAHA. She has an important iconic part--suitable for her role--but befittingly small. And I'm very okay with that; it works! Giving her solo Delight a second listen (okay I ended up listening to it a lot more after), it's not as unimpressive as I remember? It's forced. Technique is lacking. But she tries!!! In latter parts of the song, she belts a bit and she even has a baby vibrato. I can respect that. :D

Baby Soul is fucking awesome. I defs dig all her pre-official-debut work.
See: Stranger (ft. Wheesung)
I feel like this girl really works against her odds. She's now debuting at 22 years old, which is considered a bit old for k-pop idols. She has a high and light tone, but still shows that she can sound strong. You'd have the expectation for the Lovelyz concept so no surprises there, but things like Stranger (power ballad song and the cool way she's presented) are unexpected especially given her 'type' and the industry.

Jin I feel like mostly got attention because her solo Gone had a QQQQ feels-inducing MV starring goddess child actress Kim Yoojung and EXO's Xiumin. Unfortunately, the MV does overshadow the song, which took me a while to get into. But she pulls off ballads so well that I'm kind of left wondering why she's in this cutesy pop girlgroup where her lines are enough quantitatively but don't seem to stand out or scream, "hey guys this is Jin singing here!" (She sings the first chorus to Candy Jelly Love and STILL I tend to overlook it because of distracting other things.)

And then the rest of the members who didn't have solo exposure before Lovelyz:
There's Kei, who reminds me of Girl's Day's Minah in terms of the way she's styled (the bangs and clean cute image, I suppose) and because she's the main vocalist ahaha. I'm surprised she was never in the media before. Her voice is pretty similar to many of the other girls' voices, but there's a smoothness and control to it that I can pick out. ;u; I do like that she doesn't actively try to sound cuter despite softening up for Candy Jelly Love. (In contrast, Jin obviously tries to use a cuter side to her voice in the song.)
For anyone questioning her main vocal abilities, see 1:43 of: Acapella performance of Word Up

My bias in the group so far is Soojung, who sings the first solo of Candy Jelly Love. She's uuuuugh so cute/pretty and reminds me of Morning Musume's Kudou Haruka who I also find to be an angel. I love that she's one of the youngest (born in 1997 lord help me) but is the one with a deeper, slightly husky voice AND is one of the vocal carries, with really good lines. (She does choruses in both Good Night Like Yesterday and Candy Jelly Love!)

Speaking of young, then there's maknae Yein who's born in 1998 jfc.. She has a certain awkward cuteness to her that's very appropriate for her 16 year oldness LOL. Something about her's very endearing. I don't know the range of her vocal prowess but so far to me she seems like she can sing well enough? There's a certain rawness and husky undertone to her voice that makes her one of the easiest to pick out. (Her parts are the 1st solo of the 2nd verse of Candy Jelly Love and the 1st singer in the bridge of Good Night Like Yesterday.) (I like that the two members with slightly lower voices in the group are the youngest ones LOL I can see this group having hella maknae power..)

And who can forget Mijoo? What the hell. She's so fucking pretty. Maybe it's because she has a gorgeously bright smile showing all her straight teeth, but she reminds me of Sooyoung from SNSD. And it's also because they're both so-so singers that do try! Soft tones and they both do the little squeak that even I do because I don't have the technique/control to end notes in a more complete way. It's charming from them though! I hope she'll be able to prove my impression of her as a passable-but-not-spectacular vocalist wrong. ;u; I think she has potential?

Ah... and lastly Jisoo, who's immersed in scandal to the point that she couldn't join the girls for their debut. It kind of works out since she had THE TINIEST TINY part in "Candy Jelly Love," thus it doesn't feel like much is missing. She does the engrish speaking part before the bridge that goes, "You're the best ever come in my life. You're the best of my life," and I think that's it ahah. So my assumption is that she's not a strong singer, though I guess I can't judge from this. AND THEN she's given the entire 2nd verse of Good Night Like Yesterday and doesn't sound impressive but also is passable enough?! So good for her! She probably has hidden potential too!

I love that despite their image of being cutesy (which is linked to being weak tbh), that's not all and they do sing. Especially after hearing their acapella bits, I think they have the potential to really bring it.... And I do appreciate that their weaker vocalists or members considered the "visuals" do make efforts to sing. They're actually more than passable and I like their voices enough. ;u; A Pink and SNSD are some of my favorite groups but to use them as an example: Na Eun and Yoona in purely vocal performances. Objectively, they struggle to be passable in terms of singing ability. (But still they've got plenty of other strong points and they're some of my favorites tbh. I just don't look to them for vocals.)

Ben

One of my biggest inspirations in the Korean music industry for years has been Ben from a little unknown ballad trio called BeBe Mignon. (WOAH I JUST GOOGLED THEM and found out that they disbanded in 2011 and THAT EXPLAINS.. SO.. MUCH..... I am the worst fan ever.)

Wow okay, um. Anyway..... I did have a feeling the group was dead LOL, but Ben went on to release a solo album and has been featured in some 4MEN music—plus she's so talented that no one in their right mind should let her talent go to waste. But since her solo album in 2012, I haven't heard a peep about her or the group (oops), so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to have this video show up in my youtube subscriptions!!


Ben - To J

She's so incredible and I'm so happy for her that she's giving performances like this when she's not active (as far as I know) and isn't that well known.

One thing that's so admirable about her is that she's this tiny girl but with amazingly powerful pipes. More importantly to me, she has a youthful, high-pitched, thin voice but goes against all the stereotypes slammed onto those types of voices, like that they're weak—and if you look at groups, the strongest vocals usually hone a fuller, or more mature tone. But she definitely holds her own and goes beyond that, against everything one might assume. SHE'S FUCKING AWESOME. At the start of the song, she displays such delicacy, soft and sweet. Then you hear more emotion from her and she knows just when to back off to not make her singing so one-dimensional. THEN AT 3:43 SHE BELTS HER LUNGS OUT and you wonder how such strength comes out of this 5 foot tall lady.

Being someone who's always felt plagued with a high-pitched, childish, thin voice, I really aspire to be more like Ben and respect how her voice is so versatile and not fragile in the least bit.

Ahah, I remember in 2010, I freaked out when Ben replied to my tweet.. Later, I covered one of BeBe Mignon's songs, "Oppa Babo," and tweeted it to them but by then, they were too busy and popular to be able to respond to every tweet anymore.

I haven't seen much of Ben since then (plus there was no MV for her solo album) and jeez, this girl just got even prettier in the past 4 years omg. She's grown so much and those cheeks wow.

LA K-Pop Festival

This past weekend was #TeamSiliconValley's roadtrip adventure to SoCal! We hung out around Arcadia and Irvine, but the main attraction was the LA K-Pop Festival Concert celebrating the 111th anniversary of Korean-American immigration. :> The concert--okay, the entire trip--was lots of fun!

The line-up at the concert was: CNBlue, INFINITE, SHINee, SISTAR, 2PM, Girl's Day, Lena Park, Kim Taewoo, Baek Jiyoung, Song Sohee, Seol Woondo

Suuuuch a good line-up, and especially for a FREE concert! I feel like beneath the SNSD level of sunbae supremacy, the next tier of the bests includes CNBlue, INFINITE, and SISTAR. (SHINee and 2PM arguably but they're slightly more sunbae status.) I mean, they have the talent, looks, popularity, stage charisma, personality, good music, and the formulas for fame and longevity in the industry. ^^

I must admit that I had some expectations (heh) for Girl's Day whereas I didn't think much of 2PM, for some reason. It had always stuck with me that 2PM only has one really, really strong capable vocalist and that the group is more dance-oriented. (I kind of forget that Wooyoung and Junho are pretty good singers.) BUT WOW this reversal--Girl's Day's performances fell short for me while 2PM exceeded anything I could've asked for. It conveniently slipped my mind that half of Girl's Day doesn't really..sing.. and while Minah is amazing, it didn't feel like she was at her best and it's difficult to carry an entire group by your lonesome.

But holy shit 2PM why did I ever doubt you? My respect for them has increased tenfold, and while they're not my favorite group, they may have been my favorite act. Everyone held their own and it didn't feel like there were weak links. They delivered such an incredible, solid performance and most importantly: they brought boundless energy and enjoyably engaged in audience interaction. They reeked of confidence and it really seemed like they cared about making sure their fans had a good time. It really helps that they were the only group that had a clubby sound HAHAHA. I liked Hands Up but I never knew how much I FREAKING LOVE HANDS UP. Dancing and cheering along to that song was probably the highlight of the concert for me; the performers and audience alike were immersed in the music, company, and atmosphere. :D



SHINee and INFINITE were fantastic, surprising nobody. They are the current kings of live performances, after all. They're always perfect vocally and in their choreography, ever so in sync and powerful.

I didn't know how much I liked SISTAR until this concert. I didn't know I liked the song Loving U. I also didn't know that I liked Soyu this much--I found her serviceable due to her soft but decently solid voice, but homegurl can also belt and that versatility is respectable. Go Soyu.

CNBlue delivered the other high points of the concert for me. HONESTLY IDK if I would've made the trip for the concert had CNBlue not come. I like them. I like Yonghwa. I like all of them. I like their music. They're amazing performers and it's a shame that their overall ability is hard to gauge when they have no choice but to strum-sync to the music track for most performances. So really, Minhyuk and Jungshin are there to look pretty--EXCEPT THEY ONLY SHOWED ONE SHOT OF MINHYUK ON THE SCREEN so I was sad. :'( The songs they performed were very Yonghwa-centric so it was a shame that Jonghyun really had to step back. BUT YONGHWA WAS WONDERFUL AND GODLY AND. He sounds so good live, falsetto in perfect control and all<3 God dammit Yonghwa, who said you could be a charming MC and then show up on a white piano and sing with the ring of the heavens and then sling a guitar over your shoulder and all the while having a very nice face. How dare you? And he blew so. many. kisses at the audience?! SUCH FANSERVICE. I also enjoyed Love Love Love which was another crowd engager.

One thing I was pleased with was the amount of collabs. ^^ When Baek Jiyoung stepped out, my first thought was, "Oh hey, Taecyeon's here too... Maybe you two should..WINKWINK...." and then they did actually perform their duet, My Ear's Candy! The SHINee-INFINITE duo Toheart performed as well, and they were pretty impressive. Or well, Key was impressive. I always knew Woohyun was an awesome singer. AND THE 2PM-SISTAR COLLAB<3 It was what caught me off guard the most. Wooyoung, Soyu, Jun.K, and Hyorin sang If I Ain't Got You as pairs, which was sweet. They were all great! I remember going starry-eyed because Hyorin and Jun.K--both representative main vocalists--were singing together. It's like another Taeyeon-Jonghyun duo hehe.

There were plenty of flaws in the organizing/management and even down to the camerawork, but I guess I have to remember that it is a free concert. Free. But still, isn't it common broadcasting knowledge to not drastically change your shot when your camera's hot and LIVE FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE who are depending on watching the concert through the tiny screens because the stage is even tinier?

Yano's and my original seats were in row 89, aka the 5th row from the top of the coliseum LOLOL. Birds flew by and almost seemed in arm's reach (okay, total exaggeration). It's all really fascinating until your fear of heights is triggered!!

I SERIOUSLY regret not knowing about the glowsticks though. If I had one, I would've waved it for the entire concert to show my support. ;^; I mean, we're all just little dots to the performers, but at least you make a bit of a difference if you're a glowing dot...!!