kingdom thoughts volume ii
Jun. 23rd, 2021 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hereinevitablyhi guys. i'm a hardcore fantasy now.
okay okay, for real this time! hi! i'm finally done with exams! i'm still really fucking busy because life fucking sucks like that (i am actively putting something off to type this), but i did get the chance to catch up with kingdom stages. and oh boy do i have thoughts.
going to do this round by round this time instead of group by group! also going to cover the finale songs and final thoughts in yet another post (edit: and also the second round of no-limit i really do not can it ever) because this is stupidly long even without that. a heads up for ranting and bitterness because while i did not really care who won overall, i do have some... choice words for things. perhaps i should preface this with despite anything i might say below, i respect all six groups and all the effort that they've put into this show, and at the end of the day my only enemy is mnet. let us begin!
Round 2 - RE-BORN
SF9 - The Stealer (The Scene): this was so very sf9. very suave. the arrangement is fucking impeccable, though the guns are a little tacky. i actually watched this and the two other stages that came out that week way before exams so i have a twitter thread i made in reaction and i think the gist of my initial impression was just like. ah they have finally pulled out the abs i guess the jealous 6th place hit them hard. side note: Also tweeted about this but i always just imagine the group going "okay guys we're falling in the rankings. who volunteers to get objectified" LOL okay moving on. once again i really like the arrangement for the most part, except the dance break. is it bad that dance is the thing i have the most background in and yet i end up disliking the dance breaks the most. anyways it really was just very jarring and i think that is a theme throughout all of these stages actually, that it just feels like a bunch of different songs slapped together without much of a good transition. also i don't like how dark it was during this dance scene and the flashing lights like? it is so hard to see the Actual Dancing when you do that. more on this later. i did like taeyang shooting the rope though! and the guitar and the fire! you can tell that they got the proper budget this time.
The Boyz - O Sole Mio (The Red Wedding): JUYEON PARTNERWORK tbz heard my cries for more diverse dance styles with this one and delivered how sexy of them. i really like the styling the red and black and sparkles works very nicely i think. the sunwoo rap feels a little out of place but also. sunwoo <3. i really like the staging and the stage itself too! it's very pretty. a lot more coherent than some of the others that i've seen throughout the course of kingdom. i do think that, once again, a few dance parts are too hard to see. ONCE AGAIN more on this later. no really i fucking love juyeon's parts. they're so good. in general i think this is a bit of a slow burn stage but it builds nicely! i do wish they filled out the chorus a bit more though? like it just feels a little thin but. idk that is VERY nitpicky. if anything i think this stage ended a bit too soon. they did not deserve last but like once again i guess it had to be someone? the tricky thing about a ranking like this.
iKON - Inception (iKON ver.): i really fucking love the theme of this stage like inception the actual movie with like the folded roads and bridges and the trippy shit. like, that is my bread and butter. not a huge fan of the chorus arrangement though like. idk it is very ikon but falls a little flat. i liked the prechrous a lot! idk i feel like. if they had put this chorus with another song i would've liked it more. but the prechorus just sort of raised my expectations to lead to something that the chorus did Not deliver on. i really like the bridge and the final chorus though; the tempo manipulation is good. fits the theme very well. like it is still a little empty imo, but it is a step up from before? anyways. ikon are just doing their own thing. i respect that. this was fun. also i've just realized that all of these are getting shorter and shorter ALKDSJFLKA sorry i just really want to get to the move stage LOL.
Ateez - Rhythm Ta (The Awakening of Summer): okay this was good. i do see how this got first place. like, the intro where they're in the van and then the lights go out and they reappear with the masks? very cool. also once again I LOVE RHYTHM TA AS A SONG. it was also a really good choice for ateez, even if i do think it's funny that iKon already performed this as their 100 sec song. like dunking on them LOL. anyways i really love san's "i just wanna make you groove" and also yeosang's "we gon get it pop it" with the bow like that shit hits. once again though this chorus... i want more. sorry jongho's adlibs are not enough. the static and then the chanting was... cool? a little unexpected. please jongho i love you but there really does not have to be that high of a note every performance. other than that though idk it was good but like? i don't have much to say beyond base reactions. OH right i do like how the wonderland theme comes back at the end that's nice.
BtoB - Back Door: this was very funky! the concept reminded me a lot of ONF's it's raining stage from rtk. [ten second pause] probably because it is like literally the exact same backstage concept but without the dream sequence but. whatever it works! it's creative. and most of all it creates some really nice camerawork and stage sets that aren't just panning between like a bunch of rocks ??? (more on this later. i have such a bone to pick.) another instance of ah, so they have brought out the abs. skz look so excited about this actually makes me think that they literally did not care about which btob song they'd have to cover as long as they got to see their song performed by their seniors LOL. i do think that the high note was unnecessary (please kingdom groups please) but whatever. i think i should just accept it at this point. i like the ending best i think it is very funky.
Stray Kids - Pray (I'll Be Your Man): oh boy. this was a very ambitious undertaking by skz and i do think they... bit the bullet a little just to try it out? which is commendable! but also yeah the rankings did suffer for it. i genuinely think my favorite part of this stage was literally just everyone reacting to Han Jisung Ace that's right he's a main rapper that's right he can sing. me when i am always way too fervent about my biases. i do feel very bad for jeongin; i think it was a very unfortunate off-day for him. the stage was very pretty though! this is probably my favorite stage from stray kids throughout all of kingdom, like concept and aesthetic wise. see what happens when you use Light Colors and don't make everything dark as shit. i suppose the general gist of my thoughts is just like. the stage was really fucking good. the song had some good moments but overall could have been better? like not even just the vocal caliber but also i just felt like it kept on starting and stopping, leading to the momentum feeling a little weird. the part with seungmin, jisung, and changbin fucked very hard though. overall a for effort skz but compared to the other stages it does make sense that this placed where it did.
Round 3 - No Limit Unit Rounds
Rap Units: i am going to just straight up say that i think it's one should've won like. no shade to the mayfly unit and their stage! i ended up watching the mayfly stage before the it's one stage for this and the dance rounds just because that is the way my youtube recommended shook out. and i enjoyed colours! it was fine. but full dash just blew it out of the water. like, i simply do not watch the rewatch the colours stage, except to skip forward to jisung's section to watch people call him an all-rounded (re: bias insanity) whereas i blast full dash all the time. it is just... a better song. like if the music hits, it hits. i think the fact that this charted on the korean hip-hop charts says a lot. also like i just think their raps fit together better? obviously i have literally zero grounds to critique this since 1) i do not speak korean and 2) i do not rap but like. idk. too many cooks spoil the stew for colours there were just so many verses and i didn't really like the chorus that much? or no, i liked it. i just liked full dash's more LMAO. in a show where i have been continuously complaining about empty choruses, this delivers. the constant "mind your business" and also the word play with full dash (i fucking love watching the three of them just yell "fuck that shit" over and over again it is so satisfying) and the two-part chorus in general just. it is so good.
also bonus points goes to Sangyeon for his little "oh sunwoo-ya!" because the sheer pride in that moment single-handedly made me reconsider my general disdain for forcing idols into a parent role. that was peak proud dad. and more bonus bonus points goes to sunwoo himself for living out his fanboy dreams haha actually the it's one dynamics as a whole are so funny to me it is just a bunch of fanboys. ALSO bonus (x3) points goes to ji changmin for just looking really good in his red hair and glasses as he bopped to this song like. damn. i guess i have yet another tbz bias. fr though i think that is probably the best part of these unit stages, watching the group react to how sick their own members are. it is very satisfying.
also i miss mingi </3 would've been fun to see him in mayfly unit 6racha even with what i just said about too many people.
anyways i think like the biggest thing that colours won on was just. there was more to their stage. like the paintings and the way changbin splashes paint "onto" the camera. and just generally how much more choreographed it was. whereas for it's one, bobby was straight up like. just do it freely. i don't really like the expert panel ASLDKFJALKDSF i think it is silly to have people who are only experts in one area (choreographer, songmaker, rapper, etc. and mind you i respect them for the work they do in said area) judge ALL the rounds. and even sillier to have rookies? like i love weeekly (SOEUN MY GIRL) and i'm sure the other groups are fine. but they are not experts and i really do not think they were the best choices for judges (the fourth gen meta of just big flashy stages really won out). but whatever! what's done is done.
Dance Units: i am once again going to just straight up say that it's one should've won. and i think this is also the one i am most bitter about because this stage has made me realize a lot of my overarching problems with this show LMAO but. let's take a moment to unpack things.
i've said this before but i am a huge sucker for like the traditional korean influenced sort of aesthetic, both music and styling wise, and i mean. the king and queen stage was exactly that. like it is literally one of the things i've been asking for since oneus's lit stage in rtk (which bangs btw) so i was so fucking pleased to see it here. as for wolf, it just feels. tacky. do not get me wrong, i am eri we are one exo saranghaja for life, but like. wolf was a tacky concept. it has tacky lyrics and tacky styling and is a tacky concept. which is fine because it was 2013 and 2013 kpop was just a different era. i'm not going after exo here, but the mayfly stage... somehow makes it even worse? like. okay the styling was... better by itself (never going to forgive whatever the fuck was going on with the ruffles for exo) and they couldn't change the lyrics (i do miss exo's vocals though like that is so not the point here i get it it's a dance stage but </3 no one does an exo song like exo alas also what was up with the foghorn???). that's fine. what was not so fine was like? why did they wear these darkass outfits in a darkass stage with darkass lighting. you cannot see a damn thing half the time. exo had good lighting in their wolf mv, even if there was a lot of monochrome! they had scenes with white outfits! like don't get me wrong, i have seen dances with similar costumes and sets and whatnot but it was handled much better. this just feels messy. and ugly.
like, around the 3 minute mark where you have felix and a few others with backup dancers and they're like? doing this smashing move with their arms? there is just a long bush there. what is this long bush doing. why is it here. what does it add to this stage. okay trick question yes it is a launch pad for felix's stunt later on. but it is so ugly. like this stage, and kingdom overall, is simply gaudy to me. a little tasteless. it is very flashy and i am sure a lot of effort was put into it, i'm not doubting that part but like. literally i can't see half of the things that are meant to be cool. i cannot distinguish the mayfly members themselves from the backup dancers. and that is a problem i think if you are having a stage to show off your own dance skills.
i haven't said a word about their actual dancing and that is because like most of the takeaway i get from this stage is just this vague mass of bodies onstage that i can't see very well. like, this is not a criticism of their dancing. everyone here is a good dancer and also a good performer. there are good moments in this stage, like san's facial expressions and penial's highlight section. they are cool. but there's just a lot of other shit that is just thrown in just for the hell of it and like yeah this is cool. but does it create a coherent stage? like re: felix's stunt. it is impressive but like they just pan to him and he jumps and then we're back to more writhing bodies and way too much going on. perhaps this is hypocritical considering how much i enjoyed sunwoo's stunt back in the rtk danger stage but. i do think there is a distinction to be made in that sunwoo's stunt was a cool opener and the rest of the stage felt very carefully crafted. whereas this is just so much stuff. so many flashy stunts. all just shoved together with no good transition. like they have tried to do so much that it has actually become a detriment to the artistic integrity and i am aware of how pretentious a statement that is. but if you have made it this far into me talking for paragraphs about a mnet show that literally does not matter in the grand scheme of things i think you will be used to it.
in comparison, i don't really have as much to say for the it's one stage. it is very nicely crafted. tasteful! very gorgeous. the scene at around the 2 minute mark where they fall to the floor and their arms reach towards the spreading red of the lover being killed. breathtaking. like, there are still moments such as taeyang's sword fighting and that entire electronic breakdown in the music (as an aside i also just did not like that music in general i liked the traditional stuff more but alas) where i wish there was a little less of the flashing lights and little more like? normal, good for viewers to see what is going on lighting. but the thing is that it does not last the entire time! after that we get this beautiful scene with the petals falling and some nice floorwork and and move that really shows off their balance and. there is so much light even if it is meant to be a tragic ending like do you see what i am getting at here. this is a brilliant mixture of elegance and twistedness, which fits the story of a king mourning his dead lover and going crazy. apparently this also got nominated for some korean cultural award or something so go them!
anyways. this is also very pretentious of me, but like. dance is a visual thing. it is about the lines and expression you can create with the body, and i think that is why i am so hung up over the creative direction of these stages. in wolf i simply cannot see the dancing very well, and that is a problem when it is a dance stage. whereas once again! king and queen stage, 2 minute mark. it is such a nice diagonal formed with the leg and the torso while the arm stretches forward (mostly looking at taeyang here since he's the one closest to the camera and therefore the one i can see best. but i'm sure they are all doing it?). holy shit.
Vocal Units: okay i promise this one isn't as long LOL i have much less to say for this since i'm. not a vocalist. this is the only one where, imo, mayfly probably should've won, though perhaps not by as much as they did? like 33-0 is a little harsh but. eh. once again what is done is done.
besides just inseong having a bad day (poor guy btw i love him i am so sorry for him he can actually sing! also TT he gives off doyoung vibes to me actually for any fantazen reading) and his nerves probably messing up that one high note, i think it's one's biggest thing holding them back was just the song. spark is actually one of my favorite kpop songs in general, but i don't think it was the right choice here? it's arranged to be like a ballad here, but... spark doesn't work as a ballad. it is a song that needs the energy of the guitar strums and the tambourine and later on the claps. and it does let up on the pre-chorus, but that's more of a contrast thing that then builds to the chorus. instead of always being slow. i also think they probably could've gone with less people? like if it switched parts less it might've been better. idk for sure though, that is just a hypothetical i am throwing out for fun.
i do think it's a bit funny (and slightly tragic) how this is the only unit where it's one had more people than mayfly and did a bit more with the stage stuff (i love the fire <3). and yet they still lost again. rip. i do really fucking love junhoe's voice though like. i don't really know how good his technique is but just the tone <3 the rasp <3 the grit <3 perhaps i am just a rock enthusiast and think his voice would work very nicely with that genre LOL but. yeah.
i don't really have anything to say for love poem? like idk. they sang well. it was funny how both seungmin and eunkwang wanted to do love poem. no one had any vocal mishaps. i'm not really a fan of ballads sung by male vocals (except for exo my beloved and day6) so like. i don't really loop this or anything. but it's good!
SHIT
Why Do I talk So Much: OKAY interjection and change in plans. i was originally going to cover the second part of the no-limit round (aka the group stages aka the part with move stage in it) here as well, but. this has already hit 3.4k words. and it is one am. and i still have things to do. so i'm going to push that to be in part iii along with finale thoughts i suppose TT i really did fucking want to talk about the move stage though so i think i am just going to have a blurb here that i will elaborate one in the next post. alas.
SF9 - MOVE: hands down the single best thing to come out of kingdom. like it is not even close. my experience with this entire show can basically be divided into pre-watching the move stage and post-watching the move stage. pre-watching the move stage i was like yeah all these stages are pretty cool. funky shit. i like it. and post-watching the move stage i do not care about anything else anymore if it is not the move stage then i do not want it. like it did more than raise the bar, it launched the bar to the moon. the crown, as far as i'm concerned, is sf9's to lose after this. more on this in the next post, but like this is the TASTE and the ARTISTRY that i've been begging for. and the MUSIC BANGS TOO i think it peaked at number two on my spotify on repeat playlist, topped only by panorama. god i am so pleased. i want to tattoo this stage to my brain.
if you've made it to the end of this absurdly long post, thank you for reading my rambling, unwarranted, barely edited thoughts! once again, my only enemy is mnet, i know i'm probably taking things too seriously, i still love these groups and enjoy all of their music, etc. etc. good night.
okay okay, for real this time! hi! i'm finally done with exams! i'm still really fucking busy because life fucking sucks like that (i am actively putting something off to type this), but i did get the chance to catch up with kingdom stages. and oh boy do i have thoughts.
going to do this round by round this time instead of group by group! also going to cover the finale songs and final thoughts in yet another post (edit: and also the second round of no-limit i really do not can it ever) because this is stupidly long even without that. a heads up for ranting and bitterness because while i did not really care who won overall, i do have some... choice words for things. perhaps i should preface this with despite anything i might say below, i respect all six groups and all the effort that they've put into this show, and at the end of the day my only enemy is mnet. let us begin!
Round 2 - RE-BORN
SF9 - The Stealer (The Scene): this was so very sf9. very suave. the arrangement is fucking impeccable, though the guns are a little tacky. i actually watched this and the two other stages that came out that week way before exams so i have a twitter thread i made in reaction and i think the gist of my initial impression was just like. ah they have finally pulled out the abs i guess the jealous 6th place hit them hard. side note: Also tweeted about this but i always just imagine the group going "okay guys we're falling in the rankings. who volunteers to get objectified" LOL okay moving on. once again i really like the arrangement for the most part, except the dance break. is it bad that dance is the thing i have the most background in and yet i end up disliking the dance breaks the most. anyways it really was just very jarring and i think that is a theme throughout all of these stages actually, that it just feels like a bunch of different songs slapped together without much of a good transition. also i don't like how dark it was during this dance scene and the flashing lights like? it is so hard to see the Actual Dancing when you do that. more on this later. i did like taeyang shooting the rope though! and the guitar and the fire! you can tell that they got the proper budget this time.
The Boyz - O Sole Mio (The Red Wedding): JUYEON PARTNERWORK tbz heard my cries for more diverse dance styles with this one and delivered how sexy of them. i really like the styling the red and black and sparkles works very nicely i think. the sunwoo rap feels a little out of place but also. sunwoo <3. i really like the staging and the stage itself too! it's very pretty. a lot more coherent than some of the others that i've seen throughout the course of kingdom. i do think that, once again, a few dance parts are too hard to see. ONCE AGAIN more on this later. no really i fucking love juyeon's parts. they're so good. in general i think this is a bit of a slow burn stage but it builds nicely! i do wish they filled out the chorus a bit more though? like it just feels a little thin but. idk that is VERY nitpicky. if anything i think this stage ended a bit too soon. they did not deserve last but like once again i guess it had to be someone? the tricky thing about a ranking like this.
iKON - Inception (iKON ver.): i really fucking love the theme of this stage like inception the actual movie with like the folded roads and bridges and the trippy shit. like, that is my bread and butter. not a huge fan of the chorus arrangement though like. idk it is very ikon but falls a little flat. i liked the prechrous a lot! idk i feel like. if they had put this chorus with another song i would've liked it more. but the prechorus just sort of raised my expectations to lead to something that the chorus did Not deliver on. i really like the bridge and the final chorus though; the tempo manipulation is good. fits the theme very well. like it is still a little empty imo, but it is a step up from before? anyways. ikon are just doing their own thing. i respect that. this was fun. also i've just realized that all of these are getting shorter and shorter ALKDSJFLKA sorry i just really want to get to the move stage LOL.
Ateez - Rhythm Ta (The Awakening of Summer): okay this was good. i do see how this got first place. like, the intro where they're in the van and then the lights go out and they reappear with the masks? very cool. also once again I LOVE RHYTHM TA AS A SONG. it was also a really good choice for ateez, even if i do think it's funny that iKon already performed this as their 100 sec song. like dunking on them LOL. anyways i really love san's "i just wanna make you groove" and also yeosang's "we gon get it pop it" with the bow like that shit hits. once again though this chorus... i want more. sorry jongho's adlibs are not enough. the static and then the chanting was... cool? a little unexpected. please jongho i love you but there really does not have to be that high of a note every performance. other than that though idk it was good but like? i don't have much to say beyond base reactions. OH right i do like how the wonderland theme comes back at the end that's nice.
BtoB - Back Door: this was very funky! the concept reminded me a lot of ONF's it's raining stage from rtk. [ten second pause] probably because it is like literally the exact same backstage concept but without the dream sequence but. whatever it works! it's creative. and most of all it creates some really nice camerawork and stage sets that aren't just panning between like a bunch of rocks ??? (more on this later. i have such a bone to pick.) another instance of ah, so they have brought out the abs. skz look so excited about this actually makes me think that they literally did not care about which btob song they'd have to cover as long as they got to see their song performed by their seniors LOL. i do think that the high note was unnecessary (please kingdom groups please) but whatever. i think i should just accept it at this point. i like the ending best i think it is very funky.
Stray Kids - Pray (I'll Be Your Man): oh boy. this was a very ambitious undertaking by skz and i do think they... bit the bullet a little just to try it out? which is commendable! but also yeah the rankings did suffer for it. i genuinely think my favorite part of this stage was literally just everyone reacting to Han Jisung Ace that's right he's a main rapper that's right he can sing. me when i am always way too fervent about my biases. i do feel very bad for jeongin; i think it was a very unfortunate off-day for him. the stage was very pretty though! this is probably my favorite stage from stray kids throughout all of kingdom, like concept and aesthetic wise. see what happens when you use Light Colors and don't make everything dark as shit. i suppose the general gist of my thoughts is just like. the stage was really fucking good. the song had some good moments but overall could have been better? like not even just the vocal caliber but also i just felt like it kept on starting and stopping, leading to the momentum feeling a little weird. the part with seungmin, jisung, and changbin fucked very hard though. overall a for effort skz but compared to the other stages it does make sense that this placed where it did.
Round 3 - No Limit Unit Rounds
Rap Units: i am going to just straight up say that i think it's one should've won like. no shade to the mayfly unit and their stage! i ended up watching the mayfly stage before the it's one stage for this and the dance rounds just because that is the way my youtube recommended shook out. and i enjoyed colours! it was fine. but full dash just blew it out of the water. like, i simply do not watch the rewatch the colours stage, except to skip forward to jisung's section to watch people call him an all-rounded (re: bias insanity) whereas i blast full dash all the time. it is just... a better song. like if the music hits, it hits. i think the fact that this charted on the korean hip-hop charts says a lot. also like i just think their raps fit together better? obviously i have literally zero grounds to critique this since 1) i do not speak korean and 2) i do not rap but like. idk. too many cooks spoil the stew for colours there were just so many verses and i didn't really like the chorus that much? or no, i liked it. i just liked full dash's more LMAO. in a show where i have been continuously complaining about empty choruses, this delivers. the constant "mind your business" and also the word play with full dash (i fucking love watching the three of them just yell "fuck that shit" over and over again it is so satisfying) and the two-part chorus in general just. it is so good.
also bonus points goes to Sangyeon for his little "oh sunwoo-ya!" because the sheer pride in that moment single-handedly made me reconsider my general disdain for forcing idols into a parent role. that was peak proud dad. and more bonus bonus points goes to sunwoo himself for living out his fanboy dreams haha actually the it's one dynamics as a whole are so funny to me it is just a bunch of fanboys. ALSO bonus (x3) points goes to ji changmin for just looking really good in his red hair and glasses as he bopped to this song like. damn. i guess i have yet another tbz bias. fr though i think that is probably the best part of these unit stages, watching the group react to how sick their own members are. it is very satisfying.
also i miss mingi </3 would've been fun to see him in mayfly unit 6racha even with what i just said about too many people.
anyways i think like the biggest thing that colours won on was just. there was more to their stage. like the paintings and the way changbin splashes paint "onto" the camera. and just generally how much more choreographed it was. whereas for it's one, bobby was straight up like. just do it freely. i don't really like the expert panel ASLDKFJALKDSF i think it is silly to have people who are only experts in one area (choreographer, songmaker, rapper, etc. and mind you i respect them for the work they do in said area) judge ALL the rounds. and even sillier to have rookies? like i love weeekly (SOEUN MY GIRL) and i'm sure the other groups are fine. but they are not experts and i really do not think they were the best choices for judges (the fourth gen meta of just big flashy stages really won out). but whatever! what's done is done.
Dance Units: i am once again going to just straight up say that it's one should've won. and i think this is also the one i am most bitter about because this stage has made me realize a lot of my overarching problems with this show LMAO but. let's take a moment to unpack things.
i've said this before but i am a huge sucker for like the traditional korean influenced sort of aesthetic, both music and styling wise, and i mean. the king and queen stage was exactly that. like it is literally one of the things i've been asking for since oneus's lit stage in rtk (which bangs btw) so i was so fucking pleased to see it here. as for wolf, it just feels. tacky. do not get me wrong, i am eri we are one exo saranghaja for life, but like. wolf was a tacky concept. it has tacky lyrics and tacky styling and is a tacky concept. which is fine because it was 2013 and 2013 kpop was just a different era. i'm not going after exo here, but the mayfly stage... somehow makes it even worse? like. okay the styling was... better by itself (never going to forgive whatever the fuck was going on with the ruffles for exo) and they couldn't change the lyrics (i do miss exo's vocals though like that is so not the point here i get it it's a dance stage but </3 no one does an exo song like exo alas also what was up with the foghorn???). that's fine. what was not so fine was like? why did they wear these darkass outfits in a darkass stage with darkass lighting. you cannot see a damn thing half the time. exo had good lighting in their wolf mv, even if there was a lot of monochrome! they had scenes with white outfits! like don't get me wrong, i have seen dances with similar costumes and sets and whatnot but it was handled much better. this just feels messy. and ugly.
like, around the 3 minute mark where you have felix and a few others with backup dancers and they're like? doing this smashing move with their arms? there is just a long bush there. what is this long bush doing. why is it here. what does it add to this stage. okay trick question yes it is a launch pad for felix's stunt later on. but it is so ugly. like this stage, and kingdom overall, is simply gaudy to me. a little tasteless. it is very flashy and i am sure a lot of effort was put into it, i'm not doubting that part but like. literally i can't see half of the things that are meant to be cool. i cannot distinguish the mayfly members themselves from the backup dancers. and that is a problem i think if you are having a stage to show off your own dance skills.
i haven't said a word about their actual dancing and that is because like most of the takeaway i get from this stage is just this vague mass of bodies onstage that i can't see very well. like, this is not a criticism of their dancing. everyone here is a good dancer and also a good performer. there are good moments in this stage, like san's facial expressions and penial's highlight section. they are cool. but there's just a lot of other shit that is just thrown in just for the hell of it and like yeah this is cool. but does it create a coherent stage? like re: felix's stunt. it is impressive but like they just pan to him and he jumps and then we're back to more writhing bodies and way too much going on. perhaps this is hypocritical considering how much i enjoyed sunwoo's stunt back in the rtk danger stage but. i do think there is a distinction to be made in that sunwoo's stunt was a cool opener and the rest of the stage felt very carefully crafted. whereas this is just so much stuff. so many flashy stunts. all just shoved together with no good transition. like they have tried to do so much that it has actually become a detriment to the artistic integrity and i am aware of how pretentious a statement that is. but if you have made it this far into me talking for paragraphs about a mnet show that literally does not matter in the grand scheme of things i think you will be used to it.
in comparison, i don't really have as much to say for the it's one stage. it is very nicely crafted. tasteful! very gorgeous. the scene at around the 2 minute mark where they fall to the floor and their arms reach towards the spreading red of the lover being killed. breathtaking. like, there are still moments such as taeyang's sword fighting and that entire electronic breakdown in the music (as an aside i also just did not like that music in general i liked the traditional stuff more but alas) where i wish there was a little less of the flashing lights and little more like? normal, good for viewers to see what is going on lighting. but the thing is that it does not last the entire time! after that we get this beautiful scene with the petals falling and some nice floorwork and and move that really shows off their balance and. there is so much light even if it is meant to be a tragic ending like do you see what i am getting at here. this is a brilliant mixture of elegance and twistedness, which fits the story of a king mourning his dead lover and going crazy. apparently this also got nominated for some korean cultural award or something so go them!
anyways. this is also very pretentious of me, but like. dance is a visual thing. it is about the lines and expression you can create with the body, and i think that is why i am so hung up over the creative direction of these stages. in wolf i simply cannot see the dancing very well, and that is a problem when it is a dance stage. whereas once again! king and queen stage, 2 minute mark. it is such a nice diagonal formed with the leg and the torso while the arm stretches forward (mostly looking at taeyang here since he's the one closest to the camera and therefore the one i can see best. but i'm sure they are all doing it?). holy shit.
Vocal Units: okay i promise this one isn't as long LOL i have much less to say for this since i'm. not a vocalist. this is the only one where, imo, mayfly probably should've won, though perhaps not by as much as they did? like 33-0 is a little harsh but. eh. once again what is done is done.
besides just inseong having a bad day (poor guy btw i love him i am so sorry for him he can actually sing! also TT he gives off doyoung vibes to me actually for any fantazen reading) and his nerves probably messing up that one high note, i think it's one's biggest thing holding them back was just the song. spark is actually one of my favorite kpop songs in general, but i don't think it was the right choice here? it's arranged to be like a ballad here, but... spark doesn't work as a ballad. it is a song that needs the energy of the guitar strums and the tambourine and later on the claps. and it does let up on the pre-chorus, but that's more of a contrast thing that then builds to the chorus. instead of always being slow. i also think they probably could've gone with less people? like if it switched parts less it might've been better. idk for sure though, that is just a hypothetical i am throwing out for fun.
i do think it's a bit funny (and slightly tragic) how this is the only unit where it's one had more people than mayfly and did a bit more with the stage stuff (i love the fire <3). and yet they still lost again. rip. i do really fucking love junhoe's voice though like. i don't really know how good his technique is but just the tone <3 the rasp <3 the grit <3 perhaps i am just a rock enthusiast and think his voice would work very nicely with that genre LOL but. yeah.
i don't really have anything to say for love poem? like idk. they sang well. it was funny how both seungmin and eunkwang wanted to do love poem. no one had any vocal mishaps. i'm not really a fan of ballads sung by male vocals (except for exo my beloved and day6) so like. i don't really loop this or anything. but it's good!
SHIT
Why Do I talk So Much: OKAY interjection and change in plans. i was originally going to cover the second part of the no-limit round (aka the group stages aka the part with move stage in it) here as well, but. this has already hit 3.4k words. and it is one am. and i still have things to do. so i'm going to push that to be in part iii along with finale thoughts i suppose TT i really did fucking want to talk about the move stage though so i think i am just going to have a blurb here that i will elaborate one in the next post. alas.
SF9 - MOVE: hands down the single best thing to come out of kingdom. like it is not even close. my experience with this entire show can basically be divided into pre-watching the move stage and post-watching the move stage. pre-watching the move stage i was like yeah all these stages are pretty cool. funky shit. i like it. and post-watching the move stage i do not care about anything else anymore if it is not the move stage then i do not want it. like it did more than raise the bar, it launched the bar to the moon. the crown, as far as i'm concerned, is sf9's to lose after this. more on this in the next post, but like this is the TASTE and the ARTISTRY that i've been begging for. and the MUSIC BANGS TOO i think it peaked at number two on my spotify on repeat playlist, topped only by panorama. god i am so pleased. i want to tattoo this stage to my brain.
if you've made it to the end of this absurdly long post, thank you for reading my rambling, unwarranted, barely edited thoughts! once again, my only enemy is mnet, i know i'm probably taking things too seriously, i still love these groups and enjoy all of their music, etc. etc. good night.
