This year, we witnessed several comebacks from K-Pop pioneers like Super Junior, Fin.K.L, and this time, Brown Eyed Girls. It’s pleasing that after four years of hiatus, they are resuming activities. And to wit, they doubled their comebacks. Let’s review them in this article, referring to Abandoned as first, and Wonder Woman as second:
Storyline
Wonder Woman starts with a man who finds a grave marker, only to find a girl in a room. As he searches, he sees mirrors, some of them broken. He sits only to hide from the blinding light. Later on, the wind blows building up the tenseness in the final chorus. The video ends with the man abandoning the house, never to return.
In the case of the second song, they made the storyline simple. It tells of the girls in a wedding party, but this turned out to be wild. Even the banquet table had been wild too with their way of eating.
0:20 features old-fashioned rooms, which might arouse interest in historical rooms used. Now, look at 0:29, where Gain is surprised with her guests. Her reactions are kinda very funny. Also, the guests provided funny scenes by how they react.
Review as whole
Abandoned is essentially a sad song. The music builds up in the second chorus, and then goes more intense in the final chorus. While I find the tunes as not as outstanding, I find it very ideal for any OST in any Korean drama. However, I disliked some of the creepy portraits hung in the wall, at the final chorus.
For the second song, the first verse was taken as cool, calm, and mild. This is the consistency I want also in the MV. The slender tunes can be heard some of the time, which adds beauty to the song.
Some things are noticed here. First, it can be noticed that girls are only present in the scene. Essentially they barred the boys from attending a “wedding” party, turning it into all-girls one.
For both tracks, I hate to see another pumpkin being featured at every end of video.
Review by others
KPopReviewed described the first song as a fantastic ballad, haunting and giving chills at the same time. These are due to their layering vocals and instrumentals, plus their nice progression. As for Wonder Woman, the retro tunes were a bit catchy and appealing. The only holdback was on not giving clear-cut definition of their chorus.
TheBiasList gave separate assessments on the two songs. He summed it up first as drawing from songs before K-Pop, only to be infused with modern styles. The blogger likes stars who steps out of the boundaries, something the group forgot in these.
The first song borrows theatrical concepts, which gives a steady buildup till the end. Downside is on lack of factor that will let viewers understand the MV. For the second song, they converted the bossa nova original track into a disco one, making it bubbly, appealing, and addictive. By the nature of the song, it limits greater potential for the group despite having right ingredients.
TweetNewscaster’s Overall Rating (Separate):
Abandoned: 74.74%
Wonder Woman: 87.62%
Grade: F/B-
Assessment: Failed/Satisfactory
TweetNewscaster’s Overall Rating (Consolidated): 81.50%
Grade: C-
Assessment: Needs Improvement
Scoreboard
Aspect | Criterion | Abandoned | Wonder Woman | |
Storyline | 1 | Storyline | 5 | 5 |
Storyline | 2 | Consistent theme | 5 | 5 |
Appearance | 3 | Colorful/color fits emotions | 4 | 5 |
Appearance | 4 | Good taste | 2 | 4 |
Appearance | 5 | No Halloween, Easter, etc. | 1 | 0 |
Appearance | 6 | No astrology featured | 5 | 1 |
Appearance | 7 | Less horror featured | 1 | 4 |
Appearance | 8 | Not too revealing outfits | 5 | 5 |
Music | 9 | Exciting/Expresses emotions | 5 | 5 |
Music | 10 | Not too deafening | 5 | 5 |
Dance | 11 | Learned easily even by beginners | 5 | |
Dance | 12 | Not too sensual | 5 | |
Lessons | 13 | Moral lesson clearly stated | 1 | 3 |
Lessons | 14 | Impart something beneficial for viewers | 1 | 5 |
Other Matters | 15 | Sense of humor/expresses emotions | 7 | 10 |
Other Matters | 16 | Make it to mainstream media | 1 | 2 |
Other Matters | 17 | Review by other sites | 5 | 4 |
Other Matters | 18 | Review of MV as a whole | 3 | 4 |
Other Matters | 19 | Uploads video to 1theK | 10 | 10 |
Features 1theK logo (Bonus) | ||||
Prominently features 1theK vid (Bonus) | 5 | 5 |