I Will Personally Fund More Screen Time for Haerin
The Week in Review.
“It's crystal clear,” Hyein sings in NewJeans’ Japanese debut single “Supernatural.” It is absolutely not! What in the teen drama Sci-fi bunny zebra world was going on in Part 2 of the “Supernatural” music video?
The NewJeans Cinematic Universe wants us to ponder. It took me hours to realize that the “Ditto” music videos can be about parasocial relationships. With “OMG”— the group’s most meta music video — it took me 3 business days to figure out that it challenges the essence of K-pop and how idols are seen. And before director Shin Woo-seok described the music video of “ETA” as a story about rumors and consequences, I thought the video was simply NewJeans going “beep beep bitch” and getting revenge on a guy’s cheating ass.
But “Supernatural” is the group’s most bonkers music video (in a good way). “Everyone’s been going after us because we’re not normal people,” Hanni tells Minji in the video. I assume the girls are aliens with supernatural abilities and, in the end, must return to their home planet.
Minji cheesing hard at Hyein's crush (who mind you keeps polluting in the video) while having a heart-to-heart conversation with Hyein is crazy. Minji, girl, get up!
Why does this scene with Hanni remind me of the place where Barbie became a human?
I love the moment when Dani saw a UFO in the sky. Her trying to be nonchalant made me giggle. My friend, however, thought Dani was wearing a pimple patch and now I can’t unsee it.
Sadly, Haerin got the cameo treatment. She has more screen time in the behind-the-scenes video than in the actual music video. But at least in her 7 seconds, she side-eyed the hell out of that boy and remained unbothered.
The music video ends with close-up shots of the girls smiling, and it is the most genuine sequence. They are not AlienJeans anymore. Their smiles and reunion as five ground viewers back to Earth.
Just like most NewJeans music videos, “Supernatural” is open to interpretation. There might be a deeper message hidden in the video (my brain right now only holds 16GB so I currently can’t find it). But one thing is certain: the girls will always deserve better than a man who keeps littering.
Speaking of music videos, we got to see NewJeans react to the “Right Now” music video. The animated Powerpuff Girls-themed video and collaboration with Takashi Murakami carry a whimsical and colorful energy that will make you overdose on aegyo1. And the girls in the reaction video playfully scolding Haerin for not pointing on time was cute. Perhaps it’s not the world that is too fast for Haerin. It’s the world that needs to keep up with Haerin.
ICYMI:
CDTV Live! Live! Performance:
“How Sweet” | “Bubble Gum”
Fuji TV 2024 Summer FNS Music Festival Performance:
NewJeans on Episode 3 of Studio Peanut Butter’s Secret Transfer Student (Part 1)
This week’s Light Jeans episode featured the girls filming a video by the iconic Inkigayo staircase. You have not made it as an idol if you have not visited those stairs. That’s just the rule. Forget about the first music show win, a PAK2, and a brand endorsement deal. Taking a photo or video by the Inkigayo staircase is the rite of passage for idols.
NewJeans continues to steal my heart and money. This week, my Tokyo Chunichi Sports newspaper, The Face magazine, Supernatural NJ X MURAKAMI bags, and Weverse albums arrived (thank you to Music Plaza for the freebies that came with my albums). But ADOR teasing next year’s world tour has stopped my impulsive buying tendencies. My bank account sighed in relief.
That’s all for this week. This weekend, I plan to listen to Episode 2 of Dani’s MoDani’s Whispers Podcast and, if subbed by TikkiTokki, catch up on the girls’ Phoning lives.
Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend!
I’m pulling up Oxford Dictionary’s definition:
NOUN
Cuteness or charm, esp. of a sort considered characteristic of Korean popular culture. Also: behaviour regarded as cute, charming, or adorable.
Short for “Perfect-all-kill.” A music chart achievement in South Korea where a song simultaneously reaches number one on all major Korean music charts. NewJeans’ “Ditto” has the most hourly PAKs (655).