East Asian pop update Mars - May 2018

Dreamcatcher in "You & I"

Three more months has passed, and so spring came and left, and now we have had a month of summer here in Sweden, no rain and only sun.

1. Probably the best mainstream kpop song of these months, and a great debut for girl group (G)I-Idle, is the video "Latata". It feels like one of the best songs from Blackpink.

2. An alternative high point came from Anda, who has always had a unique voice for the korean music scene, and the song "Dressroom" together with super talent music writer Primary is just another great and ambient music escapade.

3. TVXQ delivers another classy kpop hit in their "The Chance Of Love". Cool choreography and catchy beats.

4. I have written about korean/chinese Shi Shi and her great voice before, and now she has returned with the emotional "Guilty(內疚)". 

5. Pinokko may turn some people off, but her song debut "Trend" also has elements of ASMR and it  IS a fascinating video.

6. Kpop girls Dreamcatcher's niche is adding some metal guitars and sounds together with more dark themes than is usual for kpop. New "You & I" is typical and a good example of the kind of drama they go for.

7. Taiwanese Emma Wu had her korean debut with the song "Sugar Rush", and the korean production values is kind of obvious in the sugar sweet video.

8. Dance ballet & jpop group Color Pointe really should have had their own post, but instead you get their otherwordly beautiful "Mahoroba kanrakugai" from last summer.

9. Crossgene has a song that swings between soft and catchy in Dandelion(달랑말랑).

10. UNB gives us really nice up-tempo kpop in "Feeling".

This and that:

• The youngest member of 2PM has debuted in Japan with the funky "Treasure".
• sony & JitteryJackal has a indie hit in "Diorama Tokyo (ジオラマ東京)"
• Uni.T returns with a dance friendly song "No More".
• Ok, OK! Lovelyz "That Day" is seen for its 4K resolution eye candy glory...
• Honey Popcorn debuted with OK song "Bibidi Babidi Boo", but instead the center of attention was on the fact that the members had a background in the japanese AV industry...

Kpop: Kim Jaejoong (김재중)

I first wrote about Kim Jaejong (former TVXQ, now JYJ) when he released his excellent video "Mine" as part of his solo debut in 2013. Now he is back with new videos "Love You More" and "Run Away". The later, while visually great, is a sleepy ballad, but "Love You More" is an excellent example of how to push a solo effort in kpop; it is sexy, easy listening that still feels fresh and attentive with a touch of edge in it. In this it reminds me of "Mine", and shows he can deliver on his own too.

• Kim Jaejoong - Love You More
• Kim Jaejoong - Run Away
• Kim Jaejoong - Mine
• Kim Jaejoong - Just Another Girl 

Kpop fantasy musical: School OZ

If the "One Day One Chance" video released in connection to the School OZ musical is any indication, the SM Town hologram meets movie meets kpop musical is a fantastic thing to see for a fan of kpop and fantasy. The music video is a pure eye-feast for a nerd like me anyways! It stars members from EXO, TVXQ, SHINee, Red Velvet and f(x). Enjoy!

• School OZ - One Day One Chance

Kpop: Girl's Generation - Catch Me If You Can

I quite liked their "Mr Mr" last winter but some of the korean super girl group SNSD's efforts the last few years have been so-so. But the new "Catch Me If You Can" is really something worth watching. This is actually one of the best choregraphed music videos I have ever seen, and I mean it just that way - this was really made for watching, I was transfixed for the whole first watch, and its honeslty not mainly to do with them being nice looking, but even more so because of how well it is cut and timed with the music. It ironically reminds me of TVXQ's superb video with the similar name "Catch Me", another masterpiece of kpop arranged around cool dancing.

• Girl's Generation - Catch Me If You Can (korean ver)

Jpop: TVXQ - Android

TVXQ, called Tohoshinki in Japan, and this single from 2012 was a release for the Japanese market and is off therefore sung in Japanese. It was a big success and sold gold quite quickly, and I like it too with a video which showcases them well with a dance choreography well adjusted to the robot theme.

• Tohoshinki - Android