let me save you the pain.
❤
• sehun leading the dance
• chanyeol's rap break, sooooo good
• luhan's solo towards the end
• chen's singing parts suit him a lot better
✖
• the utter lack of kris ugh
• chanyeol being incapable of moving his hips
• the kyungsoo - kris - yixing - chanyeol - suho - luhan combo is not balanced
❤
• kris's rap and moves in the beginning ffff
• kyungsoo sounds a lot better in chinese (?!)
• yixing's singing!!
• did I mention that I really love watching kris move ugh
• the groups formed for the first verse have such wonderful cohesion in both their dancing and singing
• sehun's hat move during the second verse; it suits him a lot more than kris
• sehun in the center of the circle at the end
✖
• chanyeol is a brick he is a moving brick
• tao's rap break and overall dancing
─
universal constants
• luhan has the voice of an angel
• kyungsoo's smooth voice and sassy attitude and scary demeanor kill me. HE'S EXACTLY LIKE RIVAILLE
• s e h u n
• THE FUCKING CHOREOGRAPHY!!!
• there are too many members that I like for various overlapping reasons
• this is how exo should have promoted themselves from the very beginning
overall: I am definitely partial to the Chinese version. They did the arrangement justice and it just sounds better to my ears. It felt a lot more balanced than the Korean version and that was really reflected in how wonderfully each of the split teams performed with each other. The groupings in K left a lot to be desired -- IMO it has a lot to do with the individual parts that each member was given. I don't think that any of the M members besides Luhan were given a proper opportunity to show what they do best in that version.
(But still. The things that I loved about K's almost made up for all of the things I didn't like.)
Speaking of doing what they do best, let's talk about Tao. I know that he's supposed to be this genius martial artist but I don't think any of that is coming through in his dance like it should. If anything, he looks really stiff when he's moving around (not Chanyeol-level, but still rough around the edges). His position as a rapper doesn't make sense to me either; it seems like he's trying too hard to sound like something that he's not during his break. Then you have those small parts of him making laughing/scoffing sounds, and it sounds pitiful. I don't know what they have planned for him in the future but I sure hope that the next time around, they can play to his strengths.
As it stands, I think Tao definitely needs the most improvement. But, on the other hand, I think that Kris, Yixing, and Sehun have shown rapid growth. Honestly, I think that the highlight of watching both versions was just watching these three dance. Kris isn't as awkward anymore, what with his long body parts, and Sehun shows so much potential. I think that SM is trying to showcase him more than Kai (or at least, that's what I see) and I'm really really thankful for that because I am 200% done with this "dancing machine" nonsense. Sehun isn't a powerhouse per se, but he's really really fucking good at portraying attitude and feeling in his dance and that's why I could just stare at him throughout the entirety of the MV and remain entertained. And then there's Yixing! Wow!! What a force. I think that he's technically the strongest overall performer in both K and M, so props for that. His dancing and singing some of the things that keep me attached to these boys. I'm so glad that SM gave him so many parts this time around.
Another note: Baekhyun never disappoints me. Neither does Kyungsoo. But in that same sense, they don't surprise me anymore, either. So while I love and appreciate their strong, lovely, beautiful and flawless vocals that carry the entire song, their positions make them static performers and leave almost no room for improvement. I don't know what to say or how I feel about that. On that same note, Suho doesn't surprise me either, but he has never shocked or awed me. The same goes for Xiumin and Kai. Do something about that, SM.
Anyways, fuck this song, it is catchy as hell and the choreography is so fucking well done. Thanks to SM Entertainment, I am now drowning in a smelly pile of K-pop feelings. Again.