Top 15 Albums of February 2014 - Part 2

Oh My Goodness!! So my plan was like the biggest failure of all my blogging history. It's not almost Halloween and I am still on February. Well, I guess expect a bunch of posts coming up throughout the next month. I am setting a schedule and STICKING to it this time! I promise myself! Let's try to get caught up! :) As for charts, those are all done for the months except for Quarter 3. I need to finish compiling July, August, and September; but it will be done! :)

Okay, anyways, let's get start with the top 5 album releases of February (dated around the end of February)!

Youtube Playlist for February 2014

| Part 1 | Part 2 |

05. Arashi - Bittersweet Released: February 12, 2014 [105 Points]

In mid-February Arashi released their 42nd Single, Bittersweet. Bittersweet was the theme song for MatsuJun's drama Shitsuren Chocolatier. The "B-side" track to Bittersweet is Road to Glory, which was the theme song on NTV for the 2014 Winter Olypmics. The other two tracks on the single, beside instrumentals, are Sync and Motto, Ima Yori. Bittersweet is an upbeat track that has that classic Arashi sound and feel. Just listening to it makes me think, "Yes, this is Arashi." It actually is my second favorite song off the album however, my first being Sync. Sync is what I would classify as one of their "experimental" songs. It's a little different than most of the music they've released, but that doesn't really matter. The song starts off a little slow, but has a very strong metronome feel to me and I love the small plays they did with temp throughout the song. And even though I'm not the biggest fan of electronic manipulations, I feel it really suits the song and it's not 100% of the song. It's only at certain parts and really is blended well into the other pieces of the song. It's hard to explain how much I like this song since I'm not too knowledgeable about all of technology, but it's a great song! As for Bittersweet's PV, it's nothing too amazing. We see Arashi on a train in various places and at the platform, mostly looking deep in thought or melancholy. However, I love the scene when three members end up sitting together and the almost instant smiles and laugh they share. And the town that they are going through makes me think of the town from like Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast or some other fairy tale!

And since Arashi Videos are hard to find online, here is a link to watch it! Sorry couldn't find any good embedding codes! 

04. Lee Min Woo (M) - M+Ten Released: February 6, 2014 [107 Points]
February 2014 saw the return of Shinhwa's main dancer's 3rd Mini Album. The mini-album was long awaited, the last time Lee Min Woo releasing a solo album being in 2009. The promotion song for M+Ten is Taxi and features the leader of Shinhwa, Eric Mun. The mini album has five tracks on it, my favorite being the promotional song, Taxi. Taxi has such a fun, funky groove that you can't help but nod along, or shake your shoulders, or tap your foot. It's such a great groovy song! As for the MV, it's got some pretty funny scenes and basically follows Lee Min Woo as he drunkenly stumbles around an alley, a bathroom stall, and of course the back of a Taxi. The dancing is pretty cool too, though with Lee Min Woo I don't expect anything less! :) Also, we see a cameo of Sam Hammington, an entertainer from New Zealand working in South Korea! Definitely check out the fun video and funky song!



03. Sunmi - Full Moon Released: February 17, 2014 [108 Points]
Late February saw the debut mini album from return artist Sunmi! Sunmi was formerly a member of Wonder Girls, but in 2010 left the group for academic reasons. However she has reentered the lime-light, this time as a solo artist! The promotional song off of the album is Full Moon, and also includes her previously released single 24 Hours. Four other songs were included on the album, Off the album, my favorite songs are definitely Full Moon, Burn, and Who Am I featuring Yoobin (the current rapper of Wonder Girls). Of those three songs, it's hard to pick just one. All three songs are great and unique and something new to the Kpop industry I feel. Burn is a more electronic pop song with a great chorus that's just fun to sing out loud when driving, especially with the windows rolled down! :) As for Who Am I, it's a great chill song. What I mean when I say "chill song" is a song that you can put on and just listen to. It's faster tempo, so between the stages of a ballad and dance song. It's hard to explain, but definitely check it out! As for Full Moon, this song and MV is awesome! And fits today's timing! In the MV Sunmi is a vampire and is seducing a young man to be her lover and turn him. WoooooOOOOoooo~~, scary! Well, not really, but it's a great music video and doesn't go overboard with the Vampire theme. It's almost simple in that respect, but done masterfully. The song is awesome, another one of those songs with a faster tempo, not a ballad, but not quite the norm as far as pop music. If you check out any of these songs, I would definitely suggest Full Moon being at least one!



02. Super Junior Donghae & Eunhyuk - Ride Me Released: February 26, 2014 [112 Points]
Late February saw the release of Super Junior's Donghae & Eunhyuk's first full Japanese album Ride Me. Included in the 13 tracks are the previously released singles Oppa, Oppa (amazing song) and I Wanna Dance (also a great song). The promotional single off the album is the song Motorcycle. It's the same kind of dance pop song that one would expect from Donghae and Eunhyuk. It's a great fun song, and makes me giggle a lot at the double entendre English! :) However, my favorite songs (besides the previously released) are definitely Android Syndrome and Hello. Android Syndrome is along the same lines musically as Motorcycle, and just a fun song! "You're my adrenaline!"  Hello is a little on a different pace, with a slower tempo and more of a pop-ballad. It's just a fun song in general and another great one to sing along too! As for the Motorcycle MV, you just need to watch it for yourself. And trust me the giggles will arise when watching them as "bikers." Plus we get a great surprise cameo from Siwon and a great dance complete with the backup dancers acting as motorcycles! I know I say this a lot, but this is definitely a must watch MV, if nothing else then for the lolz factors! :)

And as we have another Japanese release, here is a link to a good HD version of the Music Video! ;)

01. BAP - First Sensibility Released: February 3, 2014 [136 Points]
Early February saw the first full album release from popular Male Group BAP. The album, containing 13 tracks, has 1004 (Angel) as it's promotional song. Fun side note, for those that don't know Korean, how you pronounce 1004 is cheonsa, which is also the word for Angel. Hence the English name of the song! Okay, I'm going to say it, 1004 is my favorite BAP. This song is just magic for me and I really doubt that BAP can release something that will topple it from the top. It's just great with Zelo and Yong Guk's rapping through out and the great guitar riffs that really just kick the song up a notch! I just can't get over how great this song was for BAP, well at least how great it was in my book! :) And just for kicks since they've topped my chart, we'll go ahead and post a live video as well. The dance is pretty cool for the song. As for the rest of the album, I really liked Bang x2, a more rock style song that's really fun to sing along too and Save Me, a slower song that's a little more rock and uptempo than the normal kpop ballad but great. Actually, now that I think about it, these to songs are also in my top 5 of BAP's songs. They're both really great! Well back on track a little, the video is a little weird, and I really want to know where Yong Guk is with that giant bone formation. And why isn't he blocked off from just digging there? It makes no sense. But as I mentioned before, the song is awesome-sauce! :)



And there you have it folks! February is finally up! Stay tuned for March and soon after Quarter 1 of 2014! As always, here is the link once again to the Youtube Playlist.Questions, comments, concerns, and random scribbles are always welcome and highly encouraged!


Stasi ♫

My Top 50 Albums of 2013: 10-01

Finally, we are finishing the countdown of 2013! I'll save my thoughts until it's actually over (the end of the post), so let's get started with the final ten albums! And as always, here is the link to my Youtube playlist!

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | 

10. U-Kiss - Inside of Me [257 Points] Released: July 24, 2013 

In 2013 Kiss Me's (U-Kiss' fanclub name) were graced with U-Kiss' second full Japanese album. Beside adding several of their previously released single songs, the album used it's namesake song for promotions. The way I feel about Inside of Me is that it's a good, but interesting mix of pop and ballad styles. Just listening to the instrumental track, it could be a superb pop song, especially if we kick the bpm up a little. However the music is paired with U-Kiss singing more in a ballad style that gives it a nice song that can fit in both of my slow and pop playlists. Even the rap is a little more slowed down to match the overall feel that just the lyrics give. The music video is fairly straight forward, with U-Kiss belting it out in various dimly lit rooms and giving sad yet hopeful faces. Plus we get AJ since he was on a break from Columbia University! I love the black and white clothing choices, especially in the apocalypse room. Except for Hoon. Poor Hoon looks like he got attacked by zombies, so they used someone's pants to make a giant chest bandage for him. (Oh, and side note, U-Kiss, you're doing it wrong. If you are going to board up the windows, don't use such flimsy boards and leave more than enough holes for the zombies to come through. Just saying.) Back to the album, it generally has a more ballad feel to it, besides the singles that were compiled into the album that I love (Alone anyone?), I also really like Play Back (more pop-rock) and The Only One. Also, I just want to point out that the Intro and Interlude songs that U-Kiss usually have are really good and sometimes I find myself listening to them more than the actually songs. Don't know why, but I guess they do them right! (Especially in their latest Japanese Album!) Alright, I think that's enough ranting for now, because I could go on more, but I don't want to bore you! If you made it this far (I know it's just the first one), thank you! Without further ado, here is the PV for Inside of Me (yes it's the short version; Why Japan, WHY?). 

09. Kerli - Utopia [264 Points] Released: March 19, 2013 

I was super excited before 2013 even rolled around knowing that Kerli was planning on releasing a full album in early 2013. I stumbled across Kerli when her first album came out in 2008. I stumbled across one of the songs on YouTube while at work in the basement of Candelaria. After that I was hooked. I googled her and looked up everything she had done before that point. I was such a fan of Kerli because her first few singles and album were super unique and so original compared to anything I had heard before. So this led to my excitement for her next album. I will say however that my first impression of Utopia was fairly bad. Most of the songs fit into the European Electronica genre and felt like it was missing the certain uniqueness I was expecting based off of her previous songs. After not listening to it after a week or so and sitting down to listen to it with a fresh mind, I liked it a lot more knowing what to expect musically. I once again enjoy 90% of the album, with two songs not necessarily fitting my tastes. And a few of her songs actually have some uniqueness, just not of the same variety from before. Since I love almost all of the songs, I could post links to all of them, but I think I'll just post a select few. Okay, this will be tough, I should try to do this objectively. So the songs I am going to share with you are Sugar (not as electronica and more similar to her previous unique songs), Last Breath (my favorite song off the album and my most played), and Chemical (a more acoustic feeling ballad). Also on the album is Zero Gravity, one of my favorite Kerli songs of all time and one that was previously released as a single. If you haven't listened to any of Kerli's stuff before and you are interested in more Indie, feel-good, pop/folk, weirdness, please click here and at least check out her Music Videos (there are four more that have been shared in this post, one from the Tim Burton's remake of Alice in Wonderland!). Side note, she also have really fun and quirky fashion!

08. Super Junior-M - Breakdown [288 Points] Released: January 7, 2013 

The first week into 2013, started one of my favorite Kpop boy bands' sub-unit released a new album! This is their second album and was a comeback for the unit, after not released anything since Perfection in 2011. I was super excited (as one can expect) and totally love Breakdown (the promotion single). It is one of those songs that just gets me nodding my head and singing along (in nowhere near correct Chinese). They released two version, one in Korean and one in Chinese. For those that do not know, Super Junior-M is a sub-unit of Super Junior that mainly promotes in China; the M standing for Mandarin. Besides Breakdown, my favorite song is It's You and has the same amount of plays as Breakdown (+/-1). As for the MV, I have embedded the Chinese version below, but if you would rather watch the Korean one, here is the link! Both versions are pretty much the same, just with different audio. It's also a classic Super Junior music video, with the group just dancing in oddly lit rooms interspersed with singing close-ups and the members getting attacked by feathers. Also, I just want to point out that Siwon is wearing a fuzzy hat, and that is odd, and that is all. 

07. Gackt - Best of the Best: Mild & Wild [309 Points] Released: July 3, 2013 

In the summer of 2013, Japanese star Gackt released a compilation album split into two CDs. Mild contains more of his pop and ballad songs, while Wild tends to have more of his rock songs. I love this compilation album. It's always been on my list to go through and see what I'm missing from Gackt's discography that I love, but now I don't necessarily have to anymore! Also each version has one new song, Mild's being Sakura, Chiru... and Wild's being Claymore. My favorite of the two is definitely Claymore. This album just has A LOT of good songs, and all of my favorite Gackt songs. Looking at the Mild version, my favorite is definitely Ghost and has been my favorite Gackt song of all time since it's release in 2010. Seriously click the link to watch the PV, it has really cool choreography and is an awesome song (and has clips from The Sarah Connor Chronicles since it was used as a promo song for the show in Japan)! As for the rest of the Mild version, I also really like Missing, Vanilla, and Dispar. Even though I tend to choose rock over pop most of the time, I definitely listen to the Mild version more than the Wild. Wild still has some great songs on it. We have the new song Claymore (the PV below), Jesus (one of my favorite Gack PVs after Ghost), and Ever.  To try to keep this short (we aren't even half way done), here is the PV for Claymore. Definitely check out the other links above, at the very least Ghost. Trust me, you won't regret it! 

06. Lunafly - Fly to Love [330 Points] Released: April 3, 2013 

Oh my goodness. Lunafly is so awesome. They are a very talented trio that debuted in September of 2012. Fly to Love is their first full album and chalked full of feel good music. Lunafly has an acoustic type feel to their music that I absolutely love and cannot get enough of. Plus, the leader Sam is from England, so a good chunk of their songs are also released with English versions. If you look at their YouTube, they also have a lot of really good covers. I particularly like the more acoustic versions of their own songs. Maybe one day they'll release an acoustic album. One can hope. Anyways, back to the album at hand. The album was split into two discs, pretty much an English and Korean version each. This may be weird, but there are some songs I prefer in Korean, and some in English. Don't know why, but some of them just sound weird in a different language. The promotion song for the album, is once again its namesake, Fly to Love. This is actually a weird one for me, because I prefer both versions equally. Fly to Love is just a great, feel good song with a fun upbeat melody. I'll have the English version below, so if you would like to view the Korean version, just click here! Here is the link to a live version as well (the singing starts around 1:10)! A good chunk of the songs we actually previously released, just not with an English version as well. Here is the rundown of my favorite songs. I prefer the Korean version of Super Hero, the English versions of One More Step and What's Your Name?, and both versions of You Got That Something I Need. Trying to cut back, if you enjoy acoustic, feel good music without a lot of bells and whistles, definitely check out Lunafly! 

05. Fall Out Boy - Save Rock & Roll [397 Points] Released: April 12, 2013 

Number Five! And look at that point jump! So it is all thanks to my little sister Ariel that this album is on this countdown. During our road trip back from Arizona (after picking her up from college for the summer), she had us listen to Fall Out Boy's new album. My Mom and I completely latched on this was one of the albums that all three of us listened to a bunch that summer and fall. As for MVs, they are doing an entire series, where each song off of the album has its own music video and they all are telling one story. WARNING: Before you watch them, they are very graphic in a violent, bloody, gross way, but extremely interesting and I can't wait for them to finish releasing them. Currently 9 out of 11 have been released, with the latest just coming out March 6th. So back to this album, it is freaking AMAZING. I love or really like all of the songs. There is only one song that I don't listen to as much and it still has 16 plays. My favorite song actually has over 60! Since they are doing something for their videos, all videos that are in this rant block are not going to be the actual music videos so nobody watches them out of order or gets really confused. However you could just watch the entire series so far! So the favorites of my favorites are Where Did the Party Go?, Death Valley, Young Volcanoes, and Rat a Tat. Actually, I just love all of the songs, and my least favorite is the last, Save Rock and Roll. It's just a slow finish to a superb album. Seriously, if you enjoy Rock, or Alternative, or Punk, or whatever, just listen to the songs. IT'S SOOOOO GOOD! Trust me! Without anything further, I bring you the first video of The Young Blood Chronicles. 

04. Shinee - Misconceptions of You [408 Points] Released: February 19, April 26, & August 8, 2013 

So I did a little weird thing here with Shinee's album Misconceptions of You. The way that Misconceptions was released is Chapter 1: Dream Girl was released in February, Chapter 2: Why So Serious? was released in April, and then they were combined into one album and released with two tracks. So to make to easier, I just combined the plays and points from all three releases into one! We'll start with Chapter 1 first. Chapter 1 is Dream Girl and the music video I'm placing below because I like it a little more than Why So Serious? and it was released first. Dream Girl was a fun, quirky, Shinee-esque song with a really fun microphone stand dance. I also really enjoyed Hitchhiking, Beautiful, and Dynamite. Chapter 2 had the promotion song of Why So Serious?. I really enjoyed Why So Serious? and it has probably my favorite lyrics of any Shinee song. I just love how fun it is, and I love the zombie dance. From Chapter 2 I also really like SHINe (Medusa I) and Evil (EVIL!(my Mom's nickname...and she's a shawol...just saying! XD). As for the two new songs from the combined version, they are two pretty ballads (and Shinee does good ballads as some don't know from their dance pop promotions), but I wasn't as excited for them as other songs. So in trying to keep things short, here are the Dance Version MV of Dream Girl, and a live version of Why So Serious? with English subtitles (so you can see the dance and see the lyrics)! 

03. VIXX - Hyde and Jekyll (Repackage) [410 Points] Released: May 20, 2013 

WARNING: I will try to keep from fangirling too much, but seriously, it's Vixx's Hyde & Repackage Jekyll. Rounding out at number three we have Vixx's first mini-album Hyde and the repackaged version called Jekyll. Now if I didn't have a point system here, this album would be tied for first with the album that is first on this list. That is how much I love this album. A good chunk of the songs are still on my everyday playlist, and it has almost been a year. On & On really put VIXX on the map for me, but Hyde really nailed it in place. VIXX is now number three on my list of favorite Kpop boy bands and probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. As I stated before, I love that they do things a little bit darker and Hyde is currently (as of this moment) the most listened to song in my iTunes (over 150 plays), that was released in 2013, plus it's just my favorite song of 2013. I just can't even properly express how much I love this song. So I'll just pepper you with a live video, a dance practice video, and the music video below! As for the rest of the album, I also really enjoyed Light Me Up and CHAOS. As for the repackage song G.R.8.U., VIXX went with the more cutesy style, as most Kpop groups do. However, there was something different about the way they did it. It wasn't over the top with aegyo (the cutesy stuff) and the music video had a really cool start with everything in reverse followed my newspaper stop-motion and a fun dance (that has a Hyde flashback). As for the repackage songs there were only two more besides G.R.8.U., and one of them is my favorite VIXX non-promotional song, and definitely in the top 5 of my favorite VIXX songs. It's called What To Do. It's just a fun feel good song, and you just have to listen to it yourself. So once again, I leave you with a few more links; G.R.8.U dance practice video and a live version with English subtitles! 

02. Kim Jaejoong - WWW [506 Points] Released: October 29, 2013 

Another big point jump! October brought many wonderful things, my favorite holiday and Kim Jaejoong's (of JYJ) first full solo album. After his solo debut earlier in the year, I super excited to see what he was bringing us again, especially since he was continuing his foray into the Rock genre. The title song is Just Another Girl, and good rock song to kick off the album's tone. Before the album was officially released, two songs were pre-released; Sunny Day a ballad featuring Lee Sang Gon of ballad group Noel, and the rock hit Butterfly. Side note, Butterfly is still my ringtone. I was pleased with both, and even more pleased with the entire album. The night it was released (night for me here in America) I immediately got it and listened to it. I was so impressed with all of the songs and that most of them were rocks songs. There are a couple ballads and more mainstream pop songs, but overall the album was very well rounded and one of my favorite albums of the year. (And will pop up in future ratings as well since the repackage came out in 2014.) As for other songs, I have to narrow it down (and not include the ones already linked above XD). Okay, I am going to go with my favorite of all of Jaejoong's ballads (and the song I was listening to when I got in my big accident - but it didn't ruin the song for me) Paradise, Rotten Love, and Don't Walk Away featuring Young Junhyung the rapper of B2ST. As a last note, I also would like to add that Jaejoong did lyrics for 10 of the 13 songs, as well as composed four of them! I love it when artists take part in writing their own songs! 

01. Kim Jaejoong - I and Y [773 Points] Released: January 17, 2013 

The final album, and my top ranked album of 2013. I bring you another large point jump and Kim Jaejoong's solo debut Mini-album I and the repackage, Y. For I I was super duper excited when Jaejoong released not only that he was doing a solo album, but it would be rock. Mine is the promotion song, a fun rock song with a lot of meaning and wonderful cinematography. It totally blew me away, and I immediately latched onto the song. When the rest of the album came out, I was a little disappointed the rest were more ballad and pop songs, but boy are they still some of my favorite songs. Of the seven songs of both the normal and repackage versions, Jaejoong wrote the lyrics for six and composed four again. My favorite song off of the album is definitely Mine (with over 120 plays), but I loved them all, including the two repackage songs. And since there are only seven songs and this is the number one album of 2013, I'll list them all! :) We have One Kiss, Healing For Myself, You Fill Me Up, and my favorite of the ballads All Alone. The repackage has two songs featuring Flowsik (who I am a big fan of, especially when paired with JYJ), Kiss B (my favorite of the two) and Only Love. And without further ado, I bring you the last music video of my 2013 countdown, Kim Jaejoong's Mine. 

Well that wraps up my countdown of the top 50 albums of 2013. Stay tuned for the first few posts of 2014! I hope you enjoyed going through some of last years best music with me! If you have any comments or thoughts please actually comment! I look forward to seeing you all in the 2014 rankings! Keep on rocking! 

Stasi ♫

My Top 50 Albums of 2013: 20-11

Okay, finally back! Going to try to get these out quickly! Getting down to the wire! With out any further rants, I bring you numbers 11 through 20 for 2013!! As always, here is the link to the YouTube playlist!

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

20. Voodoo - Vixx [216 Points] Released: November 25, 2013 

Oh this album. In 2013 I became a big, a huge, a ginormous fan of Vixx. I had seen their music videos and listened to the singles they released for their debut year in 2012, but Oh My Goodness have they stole 2013 for. They started off the year with On & On (AMAZINGNESS), brought out the mini album Hyde and repackage Jekyll for the summer, and ended the year with another single with Okdal Girls and their first full album, Voodoo. As far as On & On and Hyde/Jekyll go, they'll be further up on the list. Honestly, the only reason that isn't in the top ten is because of it's late release. I still have been listening to a good chunk of the album a bunch, and it's almost to the end of March. Starting out with Voodoo, the promotion song, oh my goodness. Now this song has a little bit of the genre mash-ups that was popular in 2013 for Kpop, but I think this is one of the ones that is done right. The song just completely grabbed me and the music video is full of wonderful and gross creepiness. The dance is really awesome, especially with the stick the members pass around and stab each other with. I'll post the clean version below, but if you want to watch the rated one, click here! Also, if you enjoy the live videos, here is a comeback video full of fan-chants! I also bring you another practice video! As for the rest of the album they have a good mix of ballads and dance, with my favorites off the album being Beautiful Killer, B.O.D.Y, Secret Night, and Say U Say Me (besides Voodoo). Honestly thought, just looking at plays none of the songs have less then 10 plays (and Voodoo above 50 at this point). Anyways, if you enjoy the more darker side of Kpop, definitely check out Vixx and their MVs (especially from 2013 on). Before I continue ranting for the rest of the blog post, I bring you Voodoo! 

19. Incredible - Xia [228 Points] Released: July 15, 2013 

July of 2013 brought one of the former members of DBSK and current member of JYJ, Xia Junsu's comeback with a second album. The promotion song (and title of the album) is Incredible. Most of the album is ballads, which isn't really what I want to listen to in summer, so I mainly just listened to Incredible, but that song alone has over 80 plays. Incredible was produced by Bruce Automatic and features Quincy who is P.Diddy's son. I had to look that up when they announced he was featuring.... Just saying. Anyways, the music video was also filmed in California, so it's mainly foreigners (to Korea)! Yay! It's a simple video with the setting a pool party in Cali and a girl creepily wandering around Junsu's bedroom. Plus we get some really good dancing. Also, Quincy's rap is a little....let's just say JYJ certainly picks odd features when they choose American rappers. I still have no idea what he means when he says he wants me to "shake my spaceship candy," but whatever. Xia also released a music video for the ballad song 11am. The video is pretty cool, because the first three minutes or so is just Junsu singing out in a field with no music or anything; then a piano comes in. It has a very pretty acoustic feeling to it. Definitely worth checking out as well!

18. Endless Game - Arashi [231 Points] Released: May 29, 2013 

Yay! Arashi's 41st (yes 41st) single came out in early summer of 2013 and the title song Endless Game was the theme song for rapper Sakurai Sho's drama Kazoku Game (Family Game). With just a single, Arashi once again grabbed me with just a few awesome-sauce songs. And speaking of Arashi, I just want to throw out there that I have now officially listened to Arashi for 11 years in January. I don't remember the date, but yay! I also want to through out that September this year will be Arashi's 15th anniversary! So awesome! I wish I could go to their concerts! Okay, focus, back to Endless Game. I don't know how else to describe it besides being very Arashi. It's got their great harmonies and solo parts, and I guess has a little more of a pop-rock feel to it. The other songs on the single are Intergalactic (LOVE), Monochrome (SUPER LOVE), Magic Hour (LOVE). Magic Hour is a little more of a ballad feel, while Intergalactic is a fun pop song with lots of space references. Monochrome is my favorite song off the single with it's fun guitar opening and just good melody. The first time I listened to it I was smiling before they even starting singing. It's just a song that makes me feel good and happy and like I could walk in the sun forever. It's got this fun little funky twist to it that reminds me a little of the french film Triplets of Belleville soundtrack! So if you like Arashi, definitely check out this single!

17. Collage - U-Kiss [237 Points] Released: March 7, 2013 

2013 brought fans U-Kiss's third full album Collage. The promotion song for Collage is Standing Still. Standing Still is a great mix of a dance pop melody with ballad type singing and lyrics, and is absolutely brilliant. I love Standing Still even now, and it is one of my favorite U-Kiss songs, and is my favorite when I look at Korean promotion songs. The music video has a good feel between U-Kiss' spot on dancing and belting out close-up moments. My favorite dance move is during the chorus when they pop their knees out and travel going both directions. I don't know why, but I just find it incredibly sexy (weird I know) and it also looks really easy. However I think I would break my leg or something if I tried to duplicate it. Going back to the music aspects, Collage has a lot of great songs, some of my favorites being Sweety Girl, 사랑하니까, Party All the Time, and Can't Even Breathe. U-Kiss are one of my favorite bands so if you like Kpop definitely check them out. They also release some songs in English, and are very active in Japan as well! 

16. Calling/Breathless - Arashi [243 Points] Released: March 6, 2013 

In early 2013 Arashi released their 40th single Calling/Breathless. This is another one of their double sided singles, with both Calling and Breathless being promotion songs. Calling was the theme song for Aiba's drama Last Hope and Breathless was the theme song for Nino's movie Platinum Data. The single overall has a rock tone to it, which completely excited me when Aiba mentioned it in interviews before it was released. Then it was released and I couldn't stop listening to 3 of the 4 songs. The fourth song is full of love and a ballad, which completely got overshadowed by the others. Now a funny story, when I pre-ordered Calling, for some reason I completely missed that there would be two versions of the DVD version. I ended up getting the Calling version and was super excited when it came, watching it immediately. However, when I went on Live Journal to fangirl I saw a second PV. Completely flabbergasted I searched and searched for the Breathless version, which of course was out with preorders in Japan. However I got lucky and stumbled across a version that was released in Korea, so the packaging is a little different, but I was able to get all versions and see both PVs. Anyways, I'll only be posting Breathless since the PV is a bit more entertaining. If you would like to watch Calling, click here! As for the other song on the single, it's オーライ!! and is a completely fun song that has me jumping up and down chanting オーライ! along with the song! 

14. On & On - Vixx [245 Points] Released: January 17, 2013 

In Januray of 2013, Vixx officially not entered my top ten favorite Korean boy bands, but my top five! On & On really brought me into the Vixx fandom and even now it's one of my favorite Vixx songs. It's got such a good rhythm and beat, plus is super catchy. "I need therapy. la-la-la-la-la therapy!" This song itself is one of my most listened to songs at 98 when I started typing this paragraph. Honestly it'll be over 100 once I sync my iPod and finish this blog post! The dance is super awesome and fun, the music video is super weird and a little darker with their concept being space vampires. The other song on the single is I Don't Want to Be an Idol and is a pretty ballad, but nothing else can really compare to On & On...except maybe Hyde and Voodoo. But anyways, here is the link to a live performance so you can see more of the dance and be blown away at how good they are live; they had only debuted the year before and released only two singles! Also I am giving you the link to the dance practice video! As stated above, Vixx popped into my life with this song and I'm so happy they have. If you would like to know their current standing, wait for the last part of my 2013 countdown! Anyways, please join me in the amazingness that is On & On!



14. What's Happening? - B1A4 [245 Points] Released: May 6, 2013 

"Everyday-ay-ay-ay-ay...Ya!" Okay, so when B1A4 released their min album What's Happening? two very big things happened. First, I was completely addicted to What's Happening the song. Second, I got it stuck in EVERYONE's head, including my own. This song is so fun and addicting and makes me laugh. B1A4 is another band that is in my top ten that I adore and have since they debuted. I remember reading all the articles about them before their debut and the endless teasers WM Entertainment released (granted not as endless as EXO). Anyways, What's Happening? is a great song that's catchy and has a really fun and crazy music video. My favorite scene is Baro's rap in the elevator! It's very B1A4! Currently it's the 4 most listened to song that was released in 2013 (after On & On and two songs to come!). Of the few other songs on the extended play I also enjoyed Yesterday, but let's be honest. What's Happening? has like 70+ more plays than Yesterday. Anyways, if you have seen B1A4's music videos before and somehow missed What's Happening?, YOU NEED TO WATCH IT NOW! That is all! XD



13. The Classic - Shinhwa [248 Points] Released: May 16, 2013 

In 2013 many fans were greeted by Shinhwa with their 11th studio album, which also happened to coincide with their 15th anniversary. Apparently I like bands with older members... Anyway, This Love is a pop song that they meant to be for an older audience (most Kpop fans in Korea are around the high school/college age). Anyways, Minwoo (one of the members) choreographed the dance (once again) and it has some elements inspired by Madonna's Vogue. I loved this album, particularly the songs Scarface and Hurricane. This rant may seem a little smaller, but I have to make dinner soon, and I already have a few longer rants above, so the song is good. The album is great, as well as the other songs I've linked above. They also have a dance version of the music video, so check that out as well if you want!



12. Super Show 4 Concert Album - Super Junior [253 Points] Released: June 28, 2013 

Super Junior finally released the live album from Super Show 4 recorded at their Seoul concerts in the summer of 2013. I had been waiting what felt like forever since I wasn't able to see them live and just had to fangirl with partial fancams. I was super excited when I found out it was finally getting released, and the album is to no disappointment. We've got rearranged versions of several hit songs (Bonamana, Superman, Don't Don, etc.) plus we have all of the members solo songs! Just listening I love Teukie's version of She, Kyuhyun's version of Kyuhyun, and Shindong's fun song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. As for watching the DVD, it's Ryeowook's Moves Like Jagger. We also get Henry and Zhoumi songs for the first time! Yay! Super Show 4 is also the birth of Oppa, Oppa by Donghae and Eunhyuk! Anyways, this is a great version and so much fun live, and it get's even better once you've seen the DVD so you can picture it as well. Since there isn't any real promotion songs, SM Entertainment has posted two different highlight clips for Super Show 4. Displayed below is Opps featuring f(x). This song is awesome, each corresponding member wrote their own rap. Plus we get a VR version of Heechul since he started his mandatory military service right before Super Show 4 started. The second clip is of White Christmas a remake of an old song. The clip is fun and cute, so check it out here!



11. Pioneer - The Band Perry [254 Points] Released: April 2, 2013 

Rounding out our top 20 albums of 2013 is country group The Band Perry with their second album Pioneer. I saw them perform Better Dig Two at the Country Music Awards in the end of 2012. I was super excited for their next album and couldn't wait for Pioneer to be released. Once released, I saw them perform Done on Ellen and knew I had to get the album immediately. I love the album, ballads and all. My favorite songs off the album are Better Dig Two, Done, and Chainsaw. Below I have the music video of my favorite song Done, but they also released one for Better Dig Two. We've got another American band on the last, and only a couple more!



That's it for Part 4 of the 2013 countdown. Stay tuned for Part 5, the top ten albums of 2013! Until then, keep listening to the music that moves you!

Stasi ♫

My Top 50 Albums of 2013: 50-41

Well, here we are kicking off the countdown! I bring you albums 50 through 41, complete with thoughts about the songs and even accompanying music videos! WARNING: will quite possibly be video heavy. And with no further ramblings, I bring you Part 1! If you just like to skip my ramblings, or read them all and then watch the videos, here is a playlist I'm updating with each post on YouTube!

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

50. Lee Jung Hyun - V [156 Points] Released: July 22, 2013
I love this song and music video. It's so creepy and weird. Despite being a single, this ranked pretty high on my list (considering there ended up over 100 that I looked at specifically). The music video is directed by the same guy that directed the original Old Boy. It's dark, but funny, and definitely creepy. I don't know why, but I always have a soft spot for the music videos and songs that have a darker side.



49. Zion.T - Red Light [159 Points] Released: April 9, 2013
I enjoyed Red Light overall, but I think that Babay is the best song on their and probably my favorite song released in the Spring. It's crazy and funny music video paired with the funky rhythm and beats is just pure gold. I found myself singing along pretty quickly and it became on the jams I listen to while folding laundry. I haven't listed to it in a few months, but going through everything for this has boosted it back up to my everyday list. I love the sound and tone of Zion.T's voice, and it pairs really well with Gaeko (from Dynamic Duo) in this song. Prepare to have your funky groove bust out!



48. Shinee - Everybody [160 Points] Released: October 14, 2013
Despite coming out later in the year, Shinee's Everybody has made the top 50 list! I wasn't as impressed with Everybody as much as I was with Dream Girl and Why So Serious? at first, but this song really grew on me. Plus anytime I hear someone say "everybody" I can't help but singing it. As with Shinee the dance is really cool, I love the toy soldier beginning. It gets a little repetitive, but I found that I'm not as bothered by it anymore, especially since it makes it easier for my Mom to sing it with me! The EVIL Shawol. Anyways, the music video is pretty simple (as we come to expect from SM), but really Shinee's music videos are watched for the dancing. I also enjoyed watching the Dance Practice video (the dance starts around the 1:45 mark), so check it out if you really want to see the choreography without all the other distracting bells and whistles! The rest of the album is good as well, some other favorites off the mini album being Symptoms and Destination. A lot of people are surprised, but Shinee has some really nice ballads under their belts.



46. Super Junior EunHae - I Wanna Dance [162 Points] Released: June 19, 2013
I Wanna Dance is the 2nd Japanese single that Super Junior's subgroup (affectionately called by ELFs as) EunHae. This song is just what we would come to expect from them, especially after Oppa Oppa in 2011. It's got a good dance beat, the pair being their crazy personas in the music video, and is just plainly a lot of fun. The music video has some good funny moments between the two and even includes some cameos from other Super Junior members. The other song released on the single features Henry and I enjoyed it as well, just not as much! I was excited to hear with what they were doing after Oppa Oppa (it's still on of my favorite Super Junior songs) and I wasn't disappointed at all. Plus it doesn't seem weird that it's Japanese and not Korean (sometimes you can tell it's not their native language or just sounds odd). I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!



46. Akdong Musician - Kkong Ddeok Bing Soo [162 Points] Released: May 23, 2013
So the translation for this song comes out to Bean Rice Cake Bing Soo. For those not familiar with the popular Korean summer time treat, Bing Soo is shaved ice that is topped with various things, commonly fruit or ice cream. This song was actually released as a promo for Paris Baguette, a cafe chain found around the world. The accompanying music video is more of a behind the scenes shots of the duo during a photo shoot set to the song. The song is very happy (as most of Akdong Musician's music) and just has a good summer time feeling to it. Plus every time I listen to it I want Bing Soo. :( Go ahead listen, bringing some summer to this cold winter!



45. Infinite - Destiny [166 Points] Released: July 16, 2013
*Sings* "You are my Destiny woo~~ wooo~" This song grabbed me from the first beat and took me on a wild ride. With Infinite's amazing choreography, catchy chorus, and Sung Gyu's many solo parts I was stuck. Destiny is my favorite song of the year from Infinite. I can't say how much I like it without repeating myself. It really just grabbed a hold of my ears and lulled them into a sense of security before stripping them of all cells. I don't know....that metaphor just got weird, but back to the song. The choreography is really, really cool with the members weaving in and out of each other like one organism. As for the other songs on the album I also really enjoyed Inception. It's got a great beat and just makes someone bob their head along without really noticing. Plus the flutes in it really give it a cool twist paired with the electronics. The video below is version B, which was the only one that was released officially. There is a version A, you can find it on Youtube, but around the time of the release there was a plane crash and version A is set around some junked planes and stuff. Hence the creation of a version B that was released instead. "You Are My Destiny!"



44. AA - Come Back [167 Points] Released: March 27th, 2013
AA (pronounced "Double A") really struck gold with this mini album. Come Back is a good song and I like the music video (which is the one below), but reason why this album is ranked so high is for the sixth, and last, track of the album: Call Me. This song. Oh my gosh this song is so pretty and I think is the best song that AA has released. I would classify it as a fusion song, with ballad lyrics and undertones, but with a quicker and more upbeat melody. I can't quite find the right words to convey how much I love this song. It's good. You should listen to it (the link) and revel in the amazingness I stumbled upon. The music video below is the promotion song and showcases their dance talents well. Don't get my unenthusiastic rants wrong, I think it's a good song, but it just can't compare to Call Me. (See that! I liked it again. That's how much I want you to listen to it! XD)



43. Vanness Wu - Different Man [169 Points] Released: June 7, 2013 (My Birthday!)
The first Chinese album on my list comes from Vanness Wu! Released on my birthday, I jammed out to the Different Man music video when I got home from work. Shortly after I listed to the full album, quickly adding Different Man and one other song to my everyday playlist. The other song that I latched on to is Love Overtime. Love Overtime is an awesome song that has it's own music video and I highly recommend you watch it as well. Vanness did it as a tribute to Michael Jackson and Prince, so it's no wonder I like it. I still have Love Overtime on my everyday playlist, one of a few songs to last so long. I also like the song Let It Go featuring Flowsik. Please listen, and if you're a fan of Michael Jackson or Prince, definitely also check out the Love Overtime music video! (See, I posted it again! XD)



41. C-Clown - Shaking Heart [170 Points] Released: April 18, 2013
Tying at #41, we have C-Clown's hit of the year, Shaking Heart. This song has a good R&B feel to it with the vocals, paired with some really solid rapping throughout. And instead of the rapping just being a small verse or a "cameo," instead about half the song is rapping, which I actually really enjoyed. There are only a few other songs on the album, another one being Do You Remember, a collaboration with ALi (my favorite female solo singer). Her unique voice paired with C-Clowns smooth raps and vocals really made a great pair for another great song.



41. John Park - Inner Child [170 Points] Released: July 3, 2013
John Park, for those that aren't up on Kpop, but have watched American Idol, he should sound familiar. John participated in the 9th season of American Idol, leaving as a semi-finalist. He then went to South Korea and competed on one of their music shows. Inner Child is his first full album, and holy cow do I love this album. The entire thing is pure magic and just makes me feel warm and cozy. Like curling up on the couch with a hot cup of tea, good book, cat on my lap, and snow slowing falling outside. Out of all the songs, I really like Baby the best. It's the promotion song and he has such a good, yet unique tone that really stands out to me. I the song Baby, and for some reason I found the music video funny, especially at then with all the things falling down in the background. Don't ask me why I found it funny, I just did and almost died laughing. But back to the song, it's just an all around feel good song with a great melody, John Park's amazing voice, and just leaves a warm feeling in your soul. I know I'm repeating it, but really guys, really. If you haven't heard it already, please listen to it and join me in the cozy feels.



Well that's it for videos 50-41. I hope you enjoyed my small rants and listening to some of the music that got me through this past year. We're only going to get bigger and better from here! Once again if you would like to watch all the videos in succession with out worrying about my rants, here is the playlist I will update with each post. Stay tuned for more of the countdown!

Stasi ♫

Happy AIcemBA!!

Ohisashiburi Minna-san!! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in almost a month! (I haven't posted on my Examinations blog for a few weeks as well, but I'll do that later today.) Things were pretty crazy starting around Thanksgiving. Thankfully they've calmed down a bit lately, so I finally have time (and the motivation) to write a post! Anyways, first off, Happy December!! (I'll explain the title later!) I hope that whatever holiday you celebrate will be wonderful this month and that you're ready for the New Year!

One of JYJ's Lotte Duty Free free wallpapers for December!

First off, I hope those in America enjoyed their Thanksgiving break and holiday!! Thanksgiving for me was a little hectic this year, with plans changing last minute...once again. It was good to see some of my family though! I actually spent pretty much all day Wednesday cooking. I ended up making two pumpkin pies, two cheesecakes and my Aunt's recipe of twice baked potatoes. I really enjoyed cooking all day, although I just love cooking anyways. Especially when it's for a large group of family (or friends)! Also, my Mom was pretty happy because all she had to do was pack things Thanksgiving morning before we headed over to my Grandma Brown & Aunt Mary's place. Although, since I didn't help her, she forgot quite a few things. She's so EVIL sometimes! Anyways, it was fun, although I was pretty exhausted by the time it hit 2pm, and by then I was very close to  being in a food coma.

The Cheesecakes and 1 of the Pumpkin Pies I made for Thanksgiving!

Continuing on, I went Black Friday shopping again. It was at least the 7th year I've gone, but now that I think about it, maybe it was the 10th. Anyways, it's something my Mom and I usually do every year and make a big thing out of it. This year the stores kind of screwed us over. In previous years we've been able to come home around 10pm and go through the ads and make a plan on where we want to go and what we want to get at each store. Then we'll usually head to bed around midnight or 1am, get one or two hours of sleep, and then head back out to be in line for the store to open at 3/4am. This year though, a lot of stores opened at midnight, with some opening at 9 or 10pm Thanksgiving night. This year, by the time we quickly went through the ads, it was time to leave and head to Target to stand in line. It was crazy, and a lot busier this year. It changed the whole day, and I'm not sure if they really got the results they wanted. Before, people were able to get a bit of sleep before hand, so people would show up around 3 or 4am and then spend the rest of the day shopping. This year, each line was a lot longer and busier, but because of the time change, people were done shopping pretty much before 5am. It really emptied out pretty quick. We ended up being home around 3am and just heading to bed. I saw an interview with some store manager person, and he was talking about the time changes. He said they made the times earlier because customers had mentioned that they wanted the sales to come earlier. My response: "I'm pretty sure by earlier they meant as in days or weeks, not hours." Anyways, I spent about $120 and didn't really find any Christmas presents or anything besides DVDs. I ended up with a pretty good load thought for that price. A small list to show the great deals I found were particularly for the TV Shows on DVD. Beside the 10is movies I got, I also got X-men, X2 and X3 for $5 on Blue Ray (Yay for PS3), and the first 4 seasons of Psych as well as the first season of True Blood! I was pretty happy with my spoils, but it's a little sad that I was only really into the movie sales again.

One of the True Blood Season 1 ads!

The only other really big even that happened since Thanksgiving, was the weekend I spent up at my Dad's house. I love going up there, and this time I went up to house and dog-sit. I was a little sad that Dad and Diane weren't there for most of it, but they weren't on vacation as long as I thought they would be, so it was nice to hang out with them a bit. Plus, Jack (the Puppy Monster) was pretty excited. I'm pretty sure he thinks the only reason I came up was to play with him. If he wasn't sleeping on me, he was trying to get me to play with him. Such a freaking Puppy Monster, but he's so cute! Anyways, I always love going up to their house. I don't really have phone service and they don't really have much for Internet service, but it's nice to be able to escape from everything for a bit and relax. Plus it's absolutely gorgeous up their. Especially since it snowed the day I went up, everything was covered in white and really pretty. It was freezing though, but they have a fire place, so it was nice to keep that roaring away! I always love the smell of fireplaces. Especially when there's some good smelling wood in there!

Jack a.k.a. Puppy Monster!

Before I get started on fandom related things, Christmas is coming up! I'm pretty excited to head home later today to get the tree and Christmas decorations. I'm just hoping that I can find them easily in the doom that is my Mom's basement. I'm super excited for Christmas though, it always puts me in a good mood. Plus, I have a good excuse to do a lot of baking and cooking for people (which I love to do)! I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, I just have one more present left to buy and then the ones I make. I'm also going to get Christmas/Holiday cards soon, so hopefully I'll be sending those out by Wednesday next week! So, if you would like me to send you a card, just contact me in any way (comment, twitter, fb, email, etc.)! I'll probably upload pictures as I decorate and finish on my twitter, so you can check that out if you want! Hopefully as Christmas comes, I won't fail as much in posting. I'm thinking I'll have at least one more post around Christmas. Possibly one more before New Year's, we'll see!

Santa Claus, Is Com~ing to To~wn!

Now on to fandom related things! First off, I'm not really a Kiss Me, (U-kiss fandom), but I really enjoy their new song. A lot of Korean bands have been moving over to the Japanese market lately, so there's been a lot of Japanese singles sung by Korean bands. Most of them have been Japanese versions of songs that were originally in Korean. Some of them have sounded odd, but I'm pretty excited with U-kiss's Japanese debut song. Not only is it a song that wasn't one of their previous Korean hits, but really good and addicting. The choreography for the dance is also done really well. The song is called Tick Tack and has a lot of clock like movements. The song is really addicting, but I also really enjoy the dance. The only problem I have is that I keep wanting to call it Tick Tock. Do clocks in Korea go Tick Tack (is that how they sound out the noise since things like that differ between countries and languages)? I don't think the Japanese sound for clocks is Tick Tack, but I could be wrong. When I was in Japan I didn't really learn a lot of onomatopoeias. Anyways, check out the MV here. I think it's the best Japanese debut single to come out of a Korean band so far!

 One of my favorite dance moves from Tick Tack!

I have found myself dragged into another fandom. I watched season 1 of the Korean Variety show Sesame Player and it featured MBLAQ. Well I stumbled across season 2 a couple weeks ago, only this season they featured Infinite. I had listened to a few of their songs before a liked them, but watching this variety show, I got hooked. They quickly became one of my favorite Korean bands (behind Super Junior and TVXQ/JYJ)! I really do enjoy their sense of humor and cohesiveness as a group. They also have really good choreography that's usually pretty in synch. Also, in BTD (Before the Dawn) they have this really cool scorpion dance. I find myself really getting drawn into their choreography and songs the more I listen and learn about them. Also, they aren't too young so I don't feel like a pedophile in saying I like them. Plus the leader is born in 89 and before me, so I'm not older than all of them! Anyways, check them out! Here is where you can find their YouTube channel. I'll like you to their debut song Come Back, BTD, and their latest promotion songs for their first album Be Mine and Paradise. Just a heads up though, I'm linking to a live version of Paradise not the MV because I really like the dance and the MV doesn't show it. Also, if you just want to check out the scorpion dance, here's a compilation made by a fan!

Scorpion dance move from the BTD MV!

Okay, so switching gears a bit, we're moving from music to manga. So the new Chapter of Skip Beat! came out a bit ago! Chapter 183 picks up after Yashiro-san's phone hangs up on Kyoko. She keeps trying to call him back, only to realize that he probably touched his phone with his bare hands. Kyoko, wanting to get more information ends up calling President Rory!! Yay!! Not only do we get to see Yashiro again after a while, but Rory too! Rory is pretty serious in this chapter though (no crazy antics). Kyoko talks to him and explains that she's worried about Ren. In the end, Rory tells her that he won't tell her any details about what's going on because it's not his place, but that Ren's going through an inner battle. He convinces her that she just has to be there for him and not really do anything in particular. We also find out that Rory put Kyoko with Ren on this assignment not only to help Ren get through his issues, but to try to get him to be a "man" and make a move on Kyoko. His ulterior motives are to Ren put Kyoko's trust in men again and regain what she had lost (due to Sho)! About two thirds of the way through, we see back on set for the movie. A couple of the actresses are afraid of Ren and hiding behind Murasame-san. He tries to calm the girl by saying that "he's just a human," but then he makes eye contact with Ren and he freaks out himself. We then cut to Kyoko freaking out because she was sleeping and it's now Noon. She's trying to hurry to the studio to catch up with Ren, but she's also trying to stay in character and walk slow acting like she doesn't care. Anyways, the chapter ends with Kyoko coming onto set with a lot of people bleeding and hurt. The last frame has Ren holding Murasame-san in what looks like a choke hold, possibly over a ledge of some sort. I'm not sure if it's part of the movie or if Ren just kind of snapped again. I'm hoping the first. So the next chapter comes out January 4th, so we will have to wait a bit. Although, with the holidays I think the time will go by a lot faster!

Kyoko's reaction to finding out she slept until noon!

Another small update about Skip Beat! the drama, SM released a preview teaser thing on their site. You can watch it here! I'm pretty excited to watch this and see how they are going to play the different things. I'm also really interested to see how they are going to do Kyoko's little demons and angels. Anyways, it'll start airing here in the next couple weeks, so they'll probably be spazzing happening within the next few posts about that! Oh, and going back to the teaser, you can also hear a bit of the song Super Junior - M sings for the drama! I'm also excited to hear the song Donghae wrote (his first in Chinese) for the drama and his role! Overall, I'm just pretty excited about all the new Skip Beat! happenings!

Donghae gif from the Skip Beat! promo video.

Well, switching gears back to music fandoms, I'll start with Super Junior (since they were mentioned with the Skip Beat! rants)! There's actually been quite a few happenings with SuJu that I want to rant about. First off, the SS3 DVD has been released for pre-order! It comes out on the 21st! I'm super excited, but at the same time a little confused by SM. I think it would've been a better idea to release it a little earlier, so that people can get it for Christmas, both in Korea and abroad. Anyways, it's exciting because it's only going to be like $30, which is so nice. I love Japan, but why are their DVDs and CDs so expensive? The SS3 in Japan DVD is like $80 before shipping. And speaking of Super Show things, it's time for Super Show 4's first world tour stop. The boys are in Osaka, Japan (and I'm really jealous because I really want to go to Osaka again) and the concerts will happen in the next couple days. I just hope that they release the dates for if they are going to come to the US. If not, I would seriously consider flying to a different country to see them. Especially before Teuk starts his military duties. Continuing on with the association, Donghae's solo song from SS4 (with Eunhyuk) will be released as a digital single. Him and Eunhyuk are forming their own unit and going to promote the song next weekend on two of the music shows. If I remember correctly, it'll be Inkigayo and either Music Bank or Music Core (I always get them mixed up).

Eunhyuk (yellow) and Donghae (red) during SS4.

Before heading on to my last rant, there is another small Super Junior update I would like to talk about. On December 4th, Leeteuk and Eunhyuk temporarily said goodbye to their DJ spots on Sukira (Super Junior's Kiss the Radio). They've been the DJs for over 5 years, so it's really sad. I've only been listening to Sukira since I was in Japan (over a year), but it's sad that I won't be able to listen to my two biases every morning. Instead of getting other people to replace them (there were rumors it would be Infinite), the producers I guess decided to keep it as Sukira, so Ryeowook and Sungmin are the new DJs. EunTeuk said that it was better for them to quit since both of their schedules are getting hectic and full lately. As much as it's saddening, I think that it's good for them to cut back a little bit. I hate it when they look so exhausted and like they haven't had any sleep in years. It's a different Sukira with RyeoSung, but they are both such cutie pies, especially Ryeowook. When he gets so hyper I just want to grab him and shake him (I don't know why it's shaking him & a little violent). Anyways, they are super cute and it'll be fun to watch them develop some DJ skills. EunTeuk have said that they are planning on coming back, so I'm sure we'll see them DJing again!

New Sukira DJs! Such cutie pies!

Okay, so on to my last rant, this time switching continents to Japan! There actually isn't too much news about Arashi. Just new dramas and starring in each other's shows and specials. Anyways, to finally explain the title, it's Aiba's Month among Arashians (what I call Arashi fans)! His birthday is the 24th, but Arashi fans tend to dedicate the entire month to the member. Aiba is my second bias, so all the Aiba things being released are pretty exciting! Anyways, one of the fansub groups I follow (AST) has dubbed December AIcemBA! So, that's why the title is Happy AIcemBA! In other small fangirlisms, this means that next month is my Arashi bias' month! Yes, that's right, we see Sakurai Sho's birthday next month (as well as Jaejoong's, my new JYJ/TVXQ bias [Sorry, Sorry Yunho])!

The rare serious side of Aiba-chan. He's so pretty!

Okay, so sorry it was long, but a lot has happened since I last updated! If you made it this far, congratulations! I hope I didn't bore you too much! Anyways, I'll leave with a gif as always! This time I'll leave you with Aiba-chan, our dear birthday boy! This is a popular gif from Himitsu no Arashi-chan (one of their variety shows) where he falls off his chair from laughing!

Ja ne~
Stasi

6 Years + Love Song + New Beginnings

Hello dear readers! I am back, and in a more timely manner! So I only have a few items to talk about today, but a couple them could turn out pretty long. Anyways, I hope you are enjoying the month of November so far! It's been getting a more colder lately, so please take care of yourselves and don't catch colds if you're in an area getting colder!

A picture I took last Tuesday while walking home during the snow storm!

Okay, so first off, I would like to share my life changing decisions. As I am kind of tired of being an Accounting major and only chose it since I was good at it, I have made the decision to change to an Asian Studies major. I know that I only have one or two years left, but honestly, I feel so much interested and engaged in classes that I enjoy. I'm good at Accounting, not so much the other business classes. I just feel like I could do a lot better. What's really nice, is when I was talking to Bea about it, she brought up a very good point. I guess one of her art teachers was talking about being happy in your major and your career in life. I agree, and think that people should try to find jobs that they both like and can enjoy. For me, I enjoy learning about different cultures, especially Asian ones. I also have enjoyed learning Japanese and trying to figure out Korean on my own! I am really excited and feel so much happier and less stressed now that I feel like I can get on the right path. Since UNC just established an Asian Studies Major, there really aren't that many class options. Seeing as the only Asian languages that are offered here are Japanese and Chinese, I feel a little constricted. I would eventually like to learn Chinese, but I would rather learn Korean or even Vietnamese or Thai first. So, taking that into consideration, I am going to try to transfer to University of Colorado - Boulder. They have a lot more extensive program, and even off I think three years of Korean. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to transfer smoothly. Plus it'll be nice to still be in Colorado, and in an area I somewhat know (my grandfather lives outside of Boulder). As for plans after I graduate, I am planning on teaching English in Korea or Japan for a few years. Honestly, I just want to get out of the US. I really felt so much happier and healthier when I was living in Japan despite missing all my friends and family. Although, I didn't miss them as much as I thought I would. I guess I just felt at home there, which is more than I can say for Greeley. It's familiar, but it's never really given me the feeling like I belong. I feel like I'm just here for a bit. I hope that makes sense. Thinking about it, I honestly wouldn't disappointed in my life if I spent the rest of my time teaching English abroad. The funny part is when I was talking to my Mom about it, she mentioned that when I was little I wanted to be a teacher for a few years, and she thought that was what I was going to be. When I mentioned it to my Dad, he told me straight out: "I never really understood where you got the idea to be an Accountant." So I think that my family pretty much agrees with my decision, which makes me feel like I made the right choice even more. At least, I hope they're okay with it. Anyways, I just wanted to share some of the thoughts that have been going through my head lately, and that I finally feel like I'm headed to a goal in life that I can reach and be happy in. I think it would still be fun to work on variety shows, but I'm  not really sure how that would pan out. I think at most I could work on ones that deal with people learning English or having English segments or something. We'll see. You never can know what happens.

The Game of Life! XD

Okay, sorry for that huge chunk of text, but I didn't really want to separate it and have it seem like I was switching topics. If you made it through, congratulations! I hope everything made sense. Anyways, time to move on! Before moving on, I would like to give a small update about NaNoWriMo. So far everything is going pretty well. I didn't really want to write yesterday, but I was so tired I didn't want to do anything. At least I worked a lot on it this weekend and have goals to get to 15,000 words by midnight tonight! Right now I'm just under 14,000, so about an hour and I'll meet my goal! I can't remember what all I mentioned earlier about my novel, but I've decided to write and adventure type story, well, at least that's what it is right now. Basically, I'm using my experience studying abroad in Japan to write a story about a girl that moves to Japan right after college to teach English and find a new life! I hope it turns out well, but we'll see if I ever share it with anyone.

Moving on, Skip Beat! chapter 182 came out on the fifth! The first part of the chapter was okay, a lot of inner monologue from Kyoko. The ending though, was EPIC! We see a return of Yashiro-san (Ren's Mangaer)!! He's one of my favorite characters, so it was fun to see him again after so long! Anyways, so the chapter is about Kyoko analyzing what happened with Ren the night before, a.k.a. last chapter. She comes to the decision that he wasn't in character last night, and that he was having some sort of issue. He seems okay now and is giving Kyoko clues to not really bring it up and stop worrying. He tells Kyoko to go rest since her eyes are red from staying up all night thinking and worrying. On the way to the room to rest Kyoko calls Yashiro-san. Of course I almost fangirlled since Yashiro-san is one of my favorite characters along with Takarada Rori! Anyways, she wants to ask Yashiro-san about Ren, but a problem arises. In his rush to answer the phone right after getting out of the shower, he answered the phone bare-handed. In case you haven't read, or don't remember, Yashiro-san's bare hands kill electronics in I think 30 seconds. Of course, he goes to answer Kyoko and his phone dies. The chapter ends with Yashiro-san looking in horror at his dead phone. It was hilarious, but frustrating at the same time. At least the next chapter comes out on the 19th, so I only have to wait a little less than two weeks for the new chapter!

Yashiro-san's reaction to finding the phone dead and realizing he answered with bare hands!

Okay, before I get into my two main biases, let me just start with something else! Wonder Girls have released their second album! It's titled Wonder World and the promotion song is Be My Baby. I am completely addicted to this song! It's so good. I used some of my leftover Soribada money to download the CD. The song is so good, and I really enjoy the dance and the MV. If you haven't heard or seen the song and MV, click HERE! It'll most likely get stuck in your head and you'll want to hurt me, but it's good. I'm really happy to see them back with such a good song. I honestly haven't been too impressed with their couple latest releases since Nobody. Nothing against Sones, but I kind of want them to blow SNSD out of the water! Anyway, please check out the MV! It's good, I swear!

From the MV! The focus is on my favorite member, YeEun or Yenny! XD

Moving on, Arashi's new single "迷宮ラブソング" (Meikyu Love Song) came out! It's so good! I love this song! The MV is so much fun too! It's such a fun and cute MV! I busted out laughing a few times, plus it shows them in all their adorkable glory! As for the other songs, there were three other songs on the regular edition single. They are "together, forever," "うたかた," and "wanna be..." and one extra song on the limited edition, "消えぬ想い." Honestly, I prefer the three on the regular edition better. I particularly like "うたかた" a lot. It's such a peppy song and they have some great harmonies in it! I also really like "wanna be..." It has a little of a rock feeling to it, but it works well I think. "消えぬ想い" is also good, but I think it's my least favorite of all the new songs. I'll post a link to the PV here, but I'm not sure how long it'll be up. If you aren't able to find it through google and want to watch it, let me know and I'll try to send it to you! Anyways, I really enjoy their latest singe (Number 32!!) and highly encourage you to check it out!

Cat Ohno! Yes, he's turning 31 years old this month! XD

Okay, last, but definitely not least, Super Junior ranting will commence. Okay, so this might be a weird section, just warning you. On November 6th, Super Junior celebrated their 6th year anniversary! As I mentioned in my last post, I can't believe that six years have passed this quickly, and for me I've been their fan since 2008, so three years for me. Anyways, I just wanted to post a little blurb dedicated to them. I know they most likely won't ever come across it and read it, let alone be able to understand it, but I just wanted to share because you never know! Anyways, you don't have to read this and can just skip it if you want!

Dear Super Junior:

First off, congratulations on 6 years together. You've broken the curse of 5 years! I want to express to you that I will support you forever, no matter what. I will always be your fan, your support, your Ever-Lasting Friend. There is so much I want to convey to you, but I'm not quite sure how. I am so thankful for so many things. You have given me so much and enriched my life greatly. I wouldn't be the same person I am today if it weren't for you. Your presence in my life has brought me tears, laughter, happiness, hope, and so much more. I've able to meet wonderful people from all over the world through being your fan. My prospective has opened on so many things thanks to you. There is so much more feeling I wish that I could write and convey to you, but I can't quite figure out how to put in into words. I'm sad that we aren't all together anymore, but I believe that one day all 13+2 will stand together, on one stage. I know that as you all get older you'll be temporarily leaving to complete your mandatory service to your country. I just want you to know that I will always support you, no matter what happens. I will always wait, no matter how long!

Your Ever-Lasting Friend, Stasi

I love these boys so much! ❤

Okay, so I hoped you enjoyed this blog post and thank you for once again reading through all my rantings! As always, I'll leave you with a gif! This time, I'll leave you with the only Super Junior member I haven't posted a solo gif of, Hankyung! 

Hankyung from Super Junior-M's Super Girl MV! XD

Ja ne~

Stasi