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Bang Yongguk Wants You To Know That Everything’s Going To Be All Right

April 8, 2015/in Fans /by Tam Huynh

Bang Yongguk of B.A.P teased fans with a 15 second clip on Instagram on March 26th, 2015 of what was to eventually become a music video titled AM 4:44, which was later released on April 3rd. This sudden announcement had a lot of fans in a sudden state of shock and excitement. For those who […]

5 Reasons ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ May Be This Year’s Surprise Drama

April 7, 2015/in Entertainment, Television /by Tamar Herman

Some Korean dramas are set up to be successes. This year’s Kill Me, Heal Me was one such drama that started well and ended well, complete with great actors and great plots. Some dramas, however, surprise everyone and end up smash successes despite seemingly weak plots and unknown actors. Other Korean dramas look like they’ll […]

Bang Yongguk Wants You To Know That Everything’s Going To Be All Right

April 8, 2015/in Fans /by Tam Huynh

5 Reasons ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ May Be This Year’s Surprise Drama

April 7, 2015/in Entertainment, Television /by Tamar Herman

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Bang Yongguk Wants You To Know That Everything’s Going To Be All Right

April 8, 2015/in Fans /by Tam Huynh

Bang Yongguk of B.A.P teased fans with a 15 second clip on Instagram on March 26^th, 2015 of what was to eventually become a music video titled AM 4:44, which was later released on April 3^rd. This sudden announcement had a lot of fans in a sudden state of shock and excitement.

For those who may not be aware, B.A.P filed a lawsuit back in November of 2014 against their label TS Entertainment to nullify their contract due to unfair conditions and profit distribution. It’s been an on going battle between the two parties; TS Entertainment refuting the claims made, stating that “there have been neither such maltreatments to the artists nor unfair clauses in the contract,” basically brushing off any claims of them creating slave contracts for the members.

via krnmusick @ tumblr

There have always been talks behind closed doors of Korean companies creating “slave contracts” for their trainees, a contract which basically locks them into long exclusive deals, with no wiggle room or control of musical creativity, and little financial reward. It was only in 2014 that a number of members from various K-pop groups, Kris and Luhan from EXO-M and Moon Junyoung of ZE:A started to come forward to attest these claims. B.A.P shortly followed.

There were rumors and a lot of speculation going around weeks before B.A.P filed their lawsuit that something was terribly wrong; fans were convinced that it wasn’t a problem within the group and that whatever it was that was going on was hugely based on the fact that TS was strenuously overworking the members. In the weeks prior to TS cancelling B.A.P’s South American leg of their Live on Earth Tour, there were photos of the members looking weary and clearly worn out from their nonstop schedules. There were reports of members fainting and being rushed to the hospital, but only to be pulled back out by TS staff, so that they could go on to perform. Their health was quickly declining and there were multiple visits to the clinics with documentation to prove of their deteriorating health, and some of the member’s parents even made their way to TS Entertainment’s office to try and resolve these recurring issues.

Even with all that at hand, TS was not going to let health issues be an excuse as to why they’d have to lose out on money just because their income earners weren’t feeling well. Clearly, as entertainers, you’re not allowed to be sick and feel unwell, because once you sign that contract, you’re no longer considered a human being. With tickets sold, venues set, and thousands of fans awaiting B.A.P’s stops in Latin and South America, you can only imagine how the disappointment when they found out the bad news. TS tried to explain that the cancellation of the tour was all due to their concern over B.A.P’s health, and how the artist condition is the top priority. Did TS already sense that something was brewing and was about to erupt from B.A.P? Were they trying to walk away from the situation as heroes because they cancelled the tour before B.A.P’s health worsened?

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You’d question where and how one would store all these feelings, fury, rage and resentment; but after the lawsuit, this was probably the best opportunity for Yongguk to put it all into a song and present it to world.

As the fearless yet soft spoken leader of B.A.P, Yongguk is notorious for his deep and insightful way of thinking. AM 4:44 is a prime example of him trying to convey an unspoken message. The music video starts off by showing a hand watch. A watch can symbolize many things; a clear and simple meaning would be time doesn’t stop; no matter what you’re going through, you’ve got to keep fighting your way through those obstacles to make it out onto the other side. In Yongguk’s case, he’s fighting with his inner thoughts and emotions along with all the negativity that’s been building up inside him.

Nobody would know how scary the mask I wear is.

via mybutterflyfact @ tumblr

To be in this kind of industry, it’s like the three wise monkeys: you see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. No matter how many crazy things you see and encounter, as an artist under an agency, you just have to bite your tongue and act like nothing ever happened. It’s a never-ending cycle, at least not until you’re completely free from the company. And even then, there’ll still be things that come around that’ll try and haunt you. No one’s going to protect you; you have to fend for yourself. To continue with the theme, Yongguk’s face is never fully shown in the music video, rather we were just given his silhouette and quick glimpses of his profile. It’s almost as if he’s shielding himself with whatever it is that he has left to protect himself with.

via its-happycherry @ tumblr

He goes back and forth a lot throughout the song and he questions a few things here and there; how could it be that something that started off as a passion all of a sudden turn into a spiraling dark hole? for what am I insisting on trying so hard for to keep on running? Rather than this being considered a rap, it’s more like story telling. Yongguk is laying it all out there in the open for the world to hear and as for the audience; you can interpret it however you want.

The a**holes who ruined this are living with their bellies full
Just as they don’t pay attention to the victim mentality they have left behind.

To say that this is just true is a complete understatement. Not only does this apply to the industry in Korea, but it also happens in the music industry across the board in any given country and any franchise, big or small. There’ll always be the big guys who will forever step all over the little guys, until they get to not just the top but the very tip top of the chain. It doesn’t matter how they do it or how long it takes them to do so because it’ll just be a matter of time before they’re able to push their way up to where they think they belong, to live a lavish life and what not, while you’re stuck doing the dirty work. Yongguk didn’t hold back in AM 4:44 and I’m more than positive that he could’ve said so much more but that’ll probably be for another track.

When you’re feeling the loneliest and having a hard time from this world,
I will pat your shoulder you can lean into me then.

One of the worst feelings one can experience in life is loneliness; the feeling of emptiness and abandonment. There are those who can be in a room filled with people, whether it’s friends or family, but rather yet, feel like they’re surrounded by strangers, and feel like they’re the only ones who exist, or there are those who literally have no one, those with absolutely no shoulder to turn to and cry on. Even though Yongguk is filled with anger, his arms are still wide open. He’s thinking about those around him; those people who have stuck around, whether it’s his B.A.P members, his family, the fans, or just people who care enough, in general. Yongguk wants to break this cycle; he’s dealt with a few bad apples in his life and if possible he’d like to help someone else who’s been dealt a bad deck of cards if he can.

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I for one am a BABY and I’ve followed B.A.P since the beginning. And as BABY and as appreciative as I am of all their constant comebacks, World Tour’s, and all the hard work, time and labor that these guys put it, much like many other groups out there, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t expect for all of this to happen one day. It’s unfortunate that it happened, but I’m glad the members decided to file the lawsuit as a group. I guess you can say that AM 4:44 was a sudden treat to the BABYZ, but it’s also a song that is jammed back with extremely powerful messages.

I am just doing my thing, everything is going to be alright.

What are your thoughts on Bang Yongguk’s AM 4:44? Do you think everything’s going to be all right? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

5 Reasons ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells’ May Be This Year’s Surprise Drama

April 7, 2015/in Entertainment, Television /by Tamar Herman

Some Korean dramas are set up to be successes. This year’s Kill Me, Heal Me was one such drama that started well and ended well, complete with great actors and great plots. Some dramas, however, surprise everyone and end up smash successes despite seemingly weak plots and unknown actors. Other Korean dramas look like they’ll be huge hits due to the cast and crew behind scenes, and then sadly fail. The Girl Who Sees Smells is somewhere in between all of this, which means that it has room to grow and shine. The new SBS drama, also known as Sensory Couple, isn’t just like every other drama, and that means there’s a lot going for it.

[Disclaimer: This article contains a few spoilers]

It Has Everything That a Good Drama Needs

With dark comedy, supernatural abilities, a great soundtrack, and a murder plot to keep us from focusing for too long on how ridiculous the whole thing sh/bould be, The Girl Who Sees Smells is reminiscent of award winning 2013 drama, I Can Hear Your Voice. The Girl Who Sees Smells takes itself seriously when it needs to, like when focusing on murder cases, and gives the audience steady breaks from the darkness by making the lead female character a comedian who is trying to get her first break in the industry.

Plus, it’s based on a webcomic that is widely popular, so the plot’s already set and has an audience.

Shin Se Kyung is Believable As The Girl Who Sees Smells

As the title character Oh Cho Rim, Shin Se Kyung pulls off acting as a woman who wakes up from a coma with the ability to see smells. After a reasonable freak out in the first episode, Shin’s character steps into the role perfectly, acting like a human hound as she hunts trails of scent.

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She’s goofy and innocent, but Shin’s acting during small moments when Oh Cho Rim is flustered or disturbed by something reminds the audience constantly that she is more than just a hunting tool, but in fact the hunted.

Park Yoochun Is Her Perfect Foil

If Oh Cho Rim has too many senses, Choi Moo Gak has too few, and JYJ’s Park Yoochun thrives on not letting his character show pain due to medical condition. Even after guzzling coffee or being kicked by a superior, Choi/Park doesn’t flinch and acts as the opposite of Shin. Choi is motivated by one thing, to become a homicide detective and avenge his sister’s death, while Oh wants to just succeed in the here and now.

There’s a lot of bickering early on, and their romantic chemistry isn’t the best by the end of the second episode, but the two characters learn to trust each other and as they do, so does the audience. Rather than building a perfect romantic relationship, The Girl Who Sees Smells builds the camaraderie first and it’s perfect for a drama of this type.

The Opening Five Minutes

A screencap of my reaction (that Alexis had to read) as I watched the opening of The Girl Who Sees Smells:

With three murders in the first five minutes, two families broken, a murderer revealed, a case of mistaken identity, amnesia, and supernatural abilities, The Girl Who Sees Smells could be extremely makjang (over the top dramatic, pushing realism for the sake of drama.) But this is SBS. SBS publicly announced in 2014 that it would tone down makjang after coming under fire for making dramas too unbelievable. The Girl Who Sees Smells isn’t supposed to be believable; people don’t see smells. But the show is compelling, gives the characters drama within the realm of that unbelievable world, where actions have reactions and Park and Shin’s character’s responses to things, despite ridiculous situations, seems rational and utterly realistic. Wouldn’t you scream if you woke up in a hospital and the world was glittering?

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Pretty Yet Simple CG

Speaking of, the sparkles that depict the scents that Oh Cho Rim sees are gorgeous. The colors and shapes are pretty, and if most people were asked to describe scents in color and physical terminology, this definitely beats gaseous wafts.

via ry-ra on Tumblr

But Can This Drama Really Pull It Off?

The Girl Who Sees Smells is, despite the humor and magic, all about a series of murders and a pair of people who are inadvertently linked to them. Right now, it is filled with questions. Why does the murderer do what he does, what caused Choi and Oh’s afflictions, why, why, why? But if the questions are answered soon, The Girl Who Sees Smells may feel stale old. But with a team of directors and writers who worked on popular dramas like Tazza (no, not that one starring T.O.P) and Rooftop Prince on board, that seems unlikely. So expect some plot twists, and join us on a bumpy ride as we watch.

What Korean drama do you think will be the surprise of 2015? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.