#oneus w

[sanstropfremir]

what do you think of Oneus' comeback? i wish we'd gotten to see more of them being sculptures, the MV felt a bit less polished to me than Oneus normally delivers! the mini was flawless though, as always RBW committed a crime by making Intro: Lethe so good and still an intro.

mixed feelings: LOVED the mini it is flawless as usual, erase me isn't my fave off it but i do like it a lot, but idk what the hell is going on with the quality of the mv. it feels so underbaked for them, especially concept execution wise, and i can't really tell why? i don't think the cb was that rushed, so either rbw suddenly is having funding issues, they learned all the wrong lessons from same scent, or possibly they lost some of their creative team and that's why there's been some lacking continuity of concept this time around

[sanstropfremir]

have u ever seen dongmyeong and xion's hip cover? it's rlly fun and interesting! someone in the comments said that while xion was better technically (and more on beat), dongmyeong had showmanship and flair which is rlly true like dongmyeong rlly knows how to play to his strengths and he has such incredible stage presence and charisma that it honestly covers up his mistakes and makes me (at least) come away from the video feeling like he did better than xion (it's not a competition ofc!) anyway if u haven't seen it i'd like to hear ur thoughts on it (if u want to!):

https://youtu.be/qQ0iM_aOrag

also when i was getting that link i happened to pause it at a moment that i feel perfectly shows what i was talking about lol:

i LOVE their hip cover it brings me so much joy. i agree! dongmyeong has really fantastic presence and charisma and he also negotiates it really well with others on stage. xion's really only come into his hot boy potential during luna, which mostly has to do with a couple of things, but primarily being that he just doesn't have as much performing experience as his brother. onewe (prev mas 0094) formed in 2015 and they were already performing on music shows in early 2017, AND dongmyeong was on two survival shows; he was on produce 101 and he made it to the finale of the unit (i think his ending rank was 15th or 16th? very close to the debut team), so he's had a lot more time on stage even if he is (most of the time) not doing choreography. it also helps that he's not up against hwanwoong. dongmyeong and yonghoon are the ones that have to carry the charisma for onewe and they have different but very compatible energies. not that oneus doesn't have very good compatibility, but bands aren't after the same type of cohesive singular entity that you need with a boygroup, so there's a bit more freedom to explore and since it's only really the two of them as the face, it's more pressure and more time for trial and error. i'd say that it takes most idols two-three years to get used to the give and take of being centre + group stage dynamics. also if you stick hwanwoong in a group of hot boys he's always gonna be the hottest boy. xion just need a bit of time to figure out what a stage performance needs, and especially so since he was out injured during their rtk stint too.

[sanstropfremir]

i’m curious - how would you rank kpop dancers? i think taemin is the Standard because he’s just that good. others who stand out to me are boa, kai, and chungha

i should probably preface this to the new people that have come around since i started doing kingdom reviews and don't know: i'm not a trained dancer but i have worked extensively and had very close relationships with dancers for the last decade, and i do consume a fair amount of dance-related content outside of kpop.

i actually have a few categories that i rank kpop dancers on, so i wouldn't say i have a definitive ranking of best dancers, but i do have a scale of the ones that personally I like watching the most. my enjoyment of watching a dancer depends on three points: how technically skilled the dancer is, their style and charisma, and ability to execute the concept/choreography (with the obvious caveat that not all kpop dancers have been active long enough or are in place where they have artistic control over concepts). my personal preferences lean much more heavily towards personal style and concept, because technical skill is just practice. something i consider to be the sign of a true artist in any field is synthesis; the ability to understand how to create something that’s optimized specifically for the circumstances. i do agree, i think taemin is the standard because he does have this holy trinity. but he has an advantage because he’s been active for SO long; he's had the time to develop a signature style and the dude is insanely smart. he knows how to deconstruct his concepts and his movements into the bare essentials that are sharped to the most effective precision. this interview with jaejae is an excellent watch if you’re curious and have 20 minutes because it's just him talking about the specific movements he makes and why he makes them. he also works to a very high conceptual degree that is uncommon within kpop, so it makes him stand out even more as an artist. rain and boa i would also put up near the top, because they have had insanely long careers to hone their skills and artistry. my other top female dancers would probably be hyoyeon, chungha, and hyuna. i really enjoy watching hyuna’s choreos because they're always a little bit weird and fitting to the songs themselves. flower shower is one of my faves of hers. 

as far as male dancers go, taemin is, unsurprisingly, my favourite. i do think kai is deserving of a top ranking because he is extremely talented and i LOVE the concept film for his solo debut, but his personal style really irks me because he never finishes his extensions. i think this is partially an sm training thing and also partially because the dude has like, a permanently fucked up back. i enjoy watching zhang yixing (lay) much more, and yes i am going to include him because he’s still technically a part of exo and that counts. i find him more expressive, and also he, like taemin, has very clear conceptual intentions for the work that he makes. also his main style currently is krump, which is extremely funny because he’s such a softie and also fuckin KRUMP? it's both a difficult street dance subgenre and a very uncommon style to see in east asian media, so the fact he’s out there doing it at all is impressive. here’s a favourite stage of mine, and also this stage from sdc3.

there’s a number of younger generation male dancers that i think are very talented and given time, could come close to reaching this triple threat level. hwanwoong from oneus can perform, plus he’s pretty adept at switching between different styles and also he’s got a good choreography brain. ten also, it would be very remiss of me to not mention him; he has a very distinct style and the lovely choreo he did with winwin is a beautiful piece of contemporary dance. also hoshi, i dont watch any seventeen content but spider?? damn boy, you might give taemin a run for his money if you keep this up while he’s away.

there’s a lot of others that i think are skilled and i love watching, but don't necessarily have the same sort of all encompassing draw; runners’ up include yoo taeyang, shownu, yugyeom, and key.

now if we want to get talking on favourite choreos, as a separate entity from dancers, that a whoooooole ‘nother post (that’s probably twice as long lmao)

[sanstropfremir]

I’m curious what you think of the styling for Oneus’s new comeback Baila Conmigo. I found myself enjoying it (especially the shimmery blue outfits they start with), but I can’t tell if I like it because it’s good, or if I like it because it’s not just the same boring all designer branded outfits/standard fourth gen tough boy group look (since we’ve been largely starved of good styling this year on the boy group front minus a few exceptions so now they all blend together in a pile of mediocre mush in my brain).

it's.........not fantastic? it's fine, totally serviceable and it does get points for not being egregious with luxury brands, but it's also pretty disappointing for oneus standards. their last few cbs since same scent have all looked very similar, and it's not particularly interesting to me. as a whole baila conmigo doesn't actually have an distinctive flair or flavour, and personally it's not going in my styling highlights.