Another Venture into K-pop /// Music Monday #89

It's time for another Music Monday post! Fun fact for you: this is the fourth last one for 2020. Crazy, right? The Awards are almost upon us again!

Our song for today is . . .

"Goodbye" from the album Sayonara Hitori

Performed by Taemin

"Goodbye" (or "Sayonara Hitori" if you prefer the Japanese title) is a solo song by one of the members of the K-pop group SHINee, Taemin. While this song in particular isn't K-pop because it's sung in Japanese, I figured that because the singer is Korean and is from a Korean band, and because there's a Korean version of the track, I figured it was okay to put K-pop in the title?

ANYWAY. I'm getting sidetracked here. This dude is so talented in so many ways. Let's first talk about his voice. It's so beautiful and haunting, full of raw, rich emotion. If I could sing half as smooth as he can, I'd be happy. There's just something about his vocal quality that adds a lot to the song. He feels like the perfect person to be singing it.

Not only can he sing, though, but he can also dance. He knows when to bring it down to match the softer tones of the verses, but then goes all out for the chorus and even more so for the following beat drop. K-pop singers go through some really rigorous training, but it's more than evident in this video how all that training pays off. Again, if I could dance half as good as he does, I'd be satisfied.

Then there's the music video itself. Can I just say that the K-pop music videos I've seen are a thousand times better than our North American ones? I love the fantasy vibe of the video, from the swordsmen dueling in the volcano to Taemin waking up on a moonlit pillar of rock. It's just so, so cool! And his costumes are really neat as well.

As for the song, it seems to be about having to say goodbye to someone that you don't want to. There's a line in the main chorus about still smiling in the loneliness, and it ends with him saying goodbye forever. How it all can interpreted seems to be up to you. Whether you find it pretty, emotional, or maybe even both, that's for you to decide. But I think I've rambled long enough. Just watch the video and let me know what you think!

What'd you think of the song and the music video? Would you listen to more of Taemin's work? If you found any English lyrics, what's your interpretation? If you write, does this inspire you in any of your stories?

Monthly HapPENings: October

Man, is 2020 actually almost over? Where in the world has this year gone?

Once again, not much in the way of fun life stuff happened in October. I did participate in Inktober this year--more specifically, Shadow Linktober. That means I drew a bunch of Zelda enemies and antagonists. It was a lot of fun, for the most part! I'm definitely thinking I'll participate again next year, and I wanna do more drawing between now and then. I'll probably share some of my art from Linktober on here in the future, but until then, you can check them out on my Instagram if you haven't!

Also, my youngest two sisters and I went out to the nearby city to do some Christmas shopping one Thursday after I was done work. It was super productive, and we had some delicious kimchi (I chose the shrimp variant)--now I'm craving kimchi again. But yeah, I'm nearly done buying all my Christmas presents for friends and family, which I'm pretty happy about. I was on top of things this year, lemme tell ya!

Bookish HapPENings

Surprise, surprise . . . no books finished again. This is honestly becoming a bad habit at this point. It's not that I don't want to read, it's just that I don't really think of it or make time for it with everything else that I wanna do. I gotta change that this month!

HapPENings on the Screen

AAAHHH OH MY GOSH I AM DONE WITH AVATAR! What an ending to the show! It was amazing and different from what I expected and AHHH. I'm so, so glad that I managed to avoid most spoilers. I loved the show and the characters so much, I just wanna watch it all over again. I already miss them and their crazy antics and adventures. I'm so going to buy all three seasons for myself, because I neeeed them in my life. One of my all time favorites, for sure. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW THAT IT'S ALL OVER???

I finished Ergo Proxy just recently, and wow. Like Avatar, that ending was different what I'd expected. The show took so many twists and turns there at the end. And the themes, man. They gave me so much to think about and chew on. I'm still processing them and how things went down . . . When I started the show, I didn't think I'd end up enjoying it as much as I did. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's still really, really good. There were more characters I didn't want to say goodbye. If you ever watch this show, let me know so we can chat and theorize about it!

YO! The third season of My Hero Academia is so dang instense! Like, seriously, they're not holding anything back with this season. It has had my emotions wrapped around its finger. And then there was that fight I just saw and how it ended, and I can't stop thinking about it. What's going to happen to some of the characters?! This definitely feels like a big turning point in the show . . . and I love it. But it's also got me really worried about how things are going to play out now.

On a much lighter note, I've been watching Attack on Titan: Junior High recently, and it's just . . . nothing short of perfect. The way they take scenes and lines from the main show that are super serious or deep or emotional or whatever, and make it comical within the context of this parody show, is so brilliant. Or they'll take a character and overexaggerate certain traits for the sake of comedy, and it just works so well! You honestly can't hate anyone in this show. If you've seen Attack on Titan, you can't not watch this as well. It'll have you in stitches.

Gaming HapPENings

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I've been playing a lot of Ace Attorney Investigations lately, and it's so, so good! I love it for a number of different reasons. One, it has a different style from the other games in the series. Rather than searching crime scenes and talking to people for clues before hitting up the courtroom, you don't do any trials--at least, not in the traditional sense. Yes, Miles still investigates crimes, but it's from a top-down perspective, which does a lot to make it feel different. He has to use to logic to piece together clues and figure out what happened, deducing different things by using the evidence he's found. There are arguments in which you check statements and present evidence, but it still feels different from the normal games. Two, you get to play as Miles Edgeworth, one of the best characters in any game ever. I mean, just look at him on the game cover! Three, the storytelling and music are just as fantastic as they've always been, making this title feel right at home among the others. I really need to finish it and see how things go down!

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I've been a lot more New Horizons these last few weeks, because I'm finally getting somewhere with my island. Like, it's a proper town now with hourly music and everything! I still have lots to do to make it look more civilized and less like a mostly deserted island. I'm so happy with my villagers, though. They're so cute and friendly and I love them all. The Halloween event I participated in was super fun as well. Shari kept doing the scare reaction and looked absolutely adorable doing it! I also liked how some of the villagers asked for candy, while a couple of others stayed at home and gave me some. I just love this game--and the whole Animal Crossing series--so much. It's so wholesome and relaxing, and I need it in my life.

Writerly HapPENings

No writing was done this month--again. It's something I've also been meaning to change, much like the reading thing, but I haven't made the time or brain space for it. That needs to be different too, for sure by the end of the year! I will not allow 2020 to be a total failure in that regard.

That was my October! How was yours? Are you just as shocked as I am that the year is almost over? What have you done/watched/played recently?

A Final Spoopy Song /// Music Monday #88

 Welp, this one's a little late because I kind of forgot about it on the weekend. Whoops.

Our song for today is none other than . . .

"Shifty Boo Mansion" from Super Mario 3D World

Composed by Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, Yasuaki Iwata, and Koji Kondo

I can't believe that in all my years of doing Music Monday on the blog, never once for around October have I shared a spoopy Mario song. The series has some really good ones for all of the ghosty levels and games. I heard this particular track the other day and decided to share it.

The overall tone sets a really good atmosphere. It's got the spooky synths (at least, I think it's electronically produced; correct me if I'm wrong), but that violin does so much for the music. It basically carries the whole song. People in the comments have said it sounds beautiful, sad, relaxing, and solemn, and I have to agree. It's definitely all of the above. I feel like not a lot of Mario music utilizes violins like this, so when it does, it stands out.

Honestly, Super Mario 3D World is one of the best Mario games to date, in my opinion. It's got a fantastic score that happens to be one of my favorites in the series, right up there with the Galaxy and the Mario & Luigi games. It's got some terrific level design with a nice variety in themes and styles. The bosses are fun to take on, and Bowser's battles were a particular highlight for me. And c'mon, who doesn't love the new cat powerup? So cute and fuzzy! Also, the game can be extremely difficult . . . My youngest sister and I have died so many times in the last worlds. Though to be fair, I find it more of a fun challenging than the rage-inducing kind.

I'll definitely be picking up the Switch version when it releases next year. (Man, before you know it, the entire Wii U library is going to wind up coming to the Switch!) I'm really curious about the expansion, Bowser's Fury . . . have you seen the trailer for it? We haven't seen much yet, but I love ruins, so I'm already hooked by all the cat-themed pillars and structures they showed. Hopefully we'll find out more sooner rather than later!

So that's the end of the spoopy songs! What'd you think of this one? How does it compare to other ghost-themed tracks you've heard from the Mario series? Do you play Super Mario 3D World, and will you pick up the Switch version?