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igiveyoumyblood · 5 months

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‘Sweet Venom’ MV First Reactions Part 2

It’s part 2! See below the line for analysis.

Here are some more pictures from the montage, including some people having fun, Polaroid-style bicycle pictures, and this snazzy shot of Jungwon staring at us.

So last part I said that this has next to no meaning, right? It’s just showing the young, hedonistic, partying lifestyle that is synonymous with youth, the 80s, and vampires in general.

BUT!

This comeback came out at the same time as &TEAM’s, and, if you read my analysis of their MV ‘War Cry’, you’ll know that the werewolves are known for collecting memories, AND that they have ice powers now (in contrast to the vampire fire powers).

Additionally, none of our ENHYPEN vampires have time manipulation powers, unless you count Jungwon’s super speed which only applies to himself.

In ‘War Cry’, there was a lack of this memory-collection which the werewolves usually do. Hence, it is possible that the werewolves have trapped the vampires inside this frozen time bubble using their powers of memories, which are also shown through the Polaroids and grainy footage - two other visual signifiers for the past and memories! The dual comeback shows the power of the werewolves and thus the influence that they have over the vampires - literally using the power of love against immortal, unfeeling creatures. This would be great because it would explain the simplicity of the storyline, why they are in (presumably), Japan, and the time bubble/Polaroid flashbacks (Polaroids being something we have seen with &TEAM before).

…Mind you, ENHYPEN MVs have played loose with the lore of their powers (Niki floating and teleporting when that’s not his power, etc).

So it’s probably not true. 😭

Unlucky.

Moving on.

We have this picture with the frozen lightning which perpetuates the idea of the time bubble/being frozen in time.

And that’s it. It’s a short MV with very little going on.

Let’s talk lyrics.

Lyrics

Unfortunately, the lyrics don’t have that much going on. They’re very typical codependent relationship, heaven/hell imagery, blood and passion, euphoria, love and torment and so on. They’re what you’d expect from a song titled ‘Sweet Venom’ by a group with a vampire concept.

The only interesting thing about them is the ‘venom-nom-nom’ part in the chorus. It’s kind of cringey out loud (so luckily for it it’s catchy), but it COULD (this is a stretch) be seen as a ‘nom-nom-nom’ sound - as in, eating something. Which is funny because they’re vampires and they bite people (nom nom nom). It could also be seen sexually, but so can everything related to vampires and even everything in the world, if you try hard enough.

Conclusions

This is probably the most boring ENHYPEN MV to me. The only thing that makes it better is a probably-not-true head cannon. But ‘the flaws of a story are removed and it itself is made much better by headcannons’ is also true of most HYBE storylines, most kpop storylines, and most stories in general, so I suppose we can’t fault ENHYPEN and their creative team too much for this.

And ENHYPEN MVs are either 1000000/10 or trash, so I don't know what I expected.

Unsurprisingly, &TEAM won this battle. Speaking of, without my headcannon there is no connection between the groups this comeback (which is the norm at this point). What’s the point of making opposing brother groups if the only thing you use their opposition to each other for is the webtoon, HYBE?!?

#enhypen #enhypen theories #engene #orange blood #sweet venom #mv analysis #&team #lune #&team theories

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igiveyoumyblood · 5 months

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'Sweet Venom' MV First Reactions

&TEAM gave us a stellar release with a great, hype MV, and amazing choreography which suited their theme perfectly. Last comeback, ENHYPEN gave us a great vampire-themed concept, in a similar vein. So, what do we get this comeback? A cheap-looking MV, a song which will definitely be seen in a sexual manner towards Niki, and a mediocre song.

I'm relatively sure the song will grow on me (in fact, as expected, it has over the course of writing this post), but I don't know about the other things...

'Sweet Venom' is in the same vein as 'Fever,' which is far from a bad thing... except that I don't like either song, feel that both of them are mediocre, and have concerns about how they are used to sexualise the younger members and ESPECIALLY Niki.

So when I say 'the same vein as Fever,' it is NOT a compliment. The only good thing about it is that both songs very much fit a vampire concept... and even that isn't good because they fit the sexy idea of vampires (my least favourite version of them) as opposed to the Gothic, superpowered, or horror-based vampires.

So with my very biased asexual rants out of the way, but with the warning that they will definitely cloud the rest of my interpretation of the song, let's talk about the MV itself. By which I say... there is little for me to talk about. But let's see how we go.

'Sweet Venom'

Okay, Japanese setting. I actually had to go back and check this was a Korean comeback when I saw this...

The only thing to say about this setting is that it's grungey and thus relates to other (lacking in plot) MVs like 'Pass the Mic,' - hence is something we aren't surprised to see ENHYPEN do.

Also the neon lighting adds to the retro feel of the comeback.

At this point we get to screenshots I took on my phone. For some reason, I wasn’t able to increase the quality. Please forgive me and just watch the MV.

I like the title screen - with the frozen lightning, the storm clouds and the font, it looks like an 80s horror film.

We get these scenes where everyone is frozen - either partying or fighting or both - except the members are kind of… not frozen? They’re all frozen in place but their mouths are moving and they seem conscious so idk… I will assume they aren’t frozen but are staying still for whatever reason. It’s pretty cool and likely a representation of their power… or another power which I will discuss later.

The dance is cool, I guess? I don’t think it expresses the story of the song well, it’s just vaguely retro and vampire-sexual.

Then we get the exact same frozen scene as before, except we have different members subbed in to reflect who is singing.

If the director isn’t trying to express a time loop of some kind through this, I genuinely have no clue what they wanted us to take from the MV.

Hello Jungwon.

I also find it interesting that they chose to have these pulses of light/energy through the dance scenes - is this a further representation of their power? Maintaining the frozen time bubble? Or is it just supposed to look cool?

At which point we get this montage of a bizarre combination of abstract photography art, partying, people just generally having fun, and the members with these dots projected on them. I can’t include all of the images since I’ve hit my mobile image limit but I’ll include some of my favourites in the next post.

These don’t seem to have much meaning or tell much of a story, except that people are being young and hedonistic - ahem, Drunk-Dazed, ahem.

OR, there is an alternate explanation I will discuss in the second part.

#enhypen #engene #enhypen theories #orange blood #sweet venom #mv analysis

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igiveyoumyblood · 5 months

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'War Cry' MV Reactions Part 2.

This is Part 2. For the analysis, see below the line.

Starting off here with wolfiness #15.

Now that's just a cool shot. But also #16.

#17 hell yeah.

&TEAM coming through again for the third album in a row with 100000/10 choreography.

That's right, don't you let her control you.

I love this bit.

Why does he look so sad? TT

Okay my bad, it looks like the ice powers well and truly belong the the werewolves.

YESSSSSSS.

#22.

#23.

Nice.

Why does he look like Hwall from THEBOYZ here?

Forever missing Hwall TT

Dude that is so metal and Gothic. I love it.

It's also edited to be split-second enough that we, the audience, get an idea of something violent and spiky, but don't see the details - this particular scene is shown in something like 6 frames across 2 shots - VERY quick.

Very nice and emphasises their connection to ENHYPEN who had a similar shot - although far smooher and more choreographed (ahem vampires ahem) in 'Bite Me'.

YES I LOVE IT. It's circular, and it's wolfy.

So that's the end of the MV, with a large count of wolfy moments and some very cool shots. Let's talk about the lyrics for a moment.

Lyrics

Well, they're what you'd expect from a young highschool-themed werewolf boy group;

The moon and silver imagery

Light/dark/night/day imagery

Time and the changing of the world and yourself

Blood, instincts, pack mentality etc

The howl being a war cry

Being together/mirrors of each other/generally growing as a person as part of a group

Yep. Nice, but other than that, there isn't much to say about them that isn't a full-on analysis of them.

Conclusions

A very cool MV. I desperately want to be involved in directing HYBE MVs, and the creative team at HYBE in general.

There are wolves, they do wolfy things, they are very cool while doing so, and so on. What would you expect?

Even better, I know everyone's names and faces now, so I can have EVEN MORE appreciation for them than I already did!

The choreography is the best, as always.

Interestingly, this MV seemed to lack the motif of their other MVs - collecting and preserving memories. The only thing here is K's vision, which isn't even really a memory....? Perhaps the trauma of Sooha possibly murdering them in 'Firework' has made them rethink their obsession with the past.

#&team #lune #&team theories #war cry #mv analysis

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igiveyoumyblood · 5 months

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'War Cry' MV First Reactions

Here it is. The dual comeback. Actual wolfy things going on. I love it. So of course, you would expect ENHYPEN to be super vampiric, right? Wrong... I'm super disappointed.

Anyway, I'm disappointed in ENHYPEN's creative team, not in &TEAM and their comeback. So let's talk about the wolfy half of our supernatural duo.

I will say, I tried to learn everyone's names and faces, and although I know all of the names, I'm in that period where I'm getting stuff wrong (probably), so please be nice to me and correct me if I get someone's name wrong.

As far as general thoughts - well really, it's more of the same. I like how there were more wolfy things here. I was especially a fan of the 'wolf's jaws' choreo, but we'll get to that.

&TEAM lack the explicit storyline that ENHYPEN do - we get the girls, we get K being traumatised and becoming the leader of the pack (fitting considering his irl story), and we get them doing wolfy things and having fun in high school (cough, K in his mid 20s, cough), while both hunting and being hunted by the girl and ENHYPEN. Snazzy.

So let's have a look at what goes on in this one, while trying to be less stressed about how it fits into the storyine and more interested in how it uses cinematography in general, and symbols etc to tell a story.

We open on K in this wondrous rocky environment which reminds me of the set from ENHYPEN's 'Sacrifice.' There is a full moon (wow, who would have guessed a werewolf story would have a full moon) and a bloody sky (wow who would have guessed that a vampire story would have a blood red sky).

I do think it's a bit interesting how fake the rocks look. I mean, obviously they are fake, it's a set. But HYBE has the money and dedicaton to concept to make them look real if it wants to. I think this is another case of songs like 'Sacrifice,' 'Film Out,' 'Nap of a Star' and so on - it's supposed to look fake because it's some alternate supernatural realm. The gardens in 'Nap of a Star' and 'Film Out' look fake because they're Magic Island, and the landscapes in 'Sacrifice' and 'War Cry' look fake because we're in some drunk-on-fantasy alternate universe.

Anyway, K also has this pendant with a circle and a fang/claw. Very wolfy.

So he puts it on and... I can only assume ascends to some kind of wolf godhood/leadership.

I mean, the fur coat screams 'power and leadership,' so unless the costum designer seriously lost the plot, I imagine this is what they are trying to communicate with this costume design.

Absolute genius shot, marry me director. Do you want to know all the things this shot does?

Is dark and creepy

Becomes almost monotone in the lighting - very Gothic

Lighting creates shillouettes of the members - so they in those positions, look like crouched creatures of prey stalking the audience

Lighting also highlights the ceiling - emphasising that they are underground, in the shadows (thus not trustworthy) and the room they are in, which mirrors ENHYPEN's previous cinematography.

The room also contrasts ENHYPEN, who are often shown in oppulent places - literally the peal-encrusted ballroom from 'Bite Me.' This is a common visual trope to show the difference between vampires and werewolves - luxury vs bare-bones, oppulent vs down-to-earth, godlike vs realistic. It's part of the vampire-werewolf fantasy which has been communicated wonderfully through just one shot of each group

Anyway. I like it, as you can tell. It's creepy, wolfy, AND it does some storyline heavy lifting.

I love this close up on K's eye to transition to the next shot. He has blue contacts, which leads nicely into the blue of the next shot. The red of the sky around him also leads into the red of the bridge. It can also be seen as either a manifestation of his new power or a vision of the future he is given.

Yet again, we get more running from the boys. The bridge looks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which.... guys can we please stop being American? Do you really want to be American?

So when I saw him being chased by the ice, I thought it must have been one of the vampire powers, but I did some digging and it doesn't seem that any of ENHYPEN have ice powers. So I thought, perhaps it's Sooha, the girl - I think this because we have seen her around ice a lot - an easy example is ENHYPEN's Dark Blood concept trailer. But I could be completely wrong, and it could be something random, another party, or even just a random werewolf curse.

Sooha?!?!?!?!

Y'all, this is Nicholas, right? I'm not going crazy, right?

Anyway, the blue/white/silver eyes are a pretty self-explanatory mark of werewolfhood.

Considering how unfazed he is about the cold, perhaps the snow is a werewolf power? Especially since we see them all dancing without any distress in the snow. It could have been either overused or turned against them separately at the start when they had to run away from it.

Either that or the shot was purely and only made to make Nicholas look cool and there's no deep meaning...

Yuma you're a very pretty guy but this is scary please go away.

That said, I find it interesting that they chose to go black-and-white for this shot when the rest of the scene, including the rest of Yuma's part, is quite saturated. To create emphasis and irony about him saying 'my blood' while all the blood red from the previous shot drains out? Possibly.

'War Cry' werewolf moment #4.

Okay maybe the director just likes this kind of thing and how it was used for coolness in MVs like 'Guerrilla.'

I do find it interesting, though (wow what a surprise, I find everything interesting), that the nice pristine monotone is broken by bats and weird... musculature? Viscera? In Fuma and EJ's part. Or at least, I did find it interesting, until...

...it was used to add context to and make a nice transition into the next shot, showing that Harua was the one running from the ice, AND that it is no longer there.

Suspicious.

But he's still running anyway, so I will assume he has reason to be scared.

'War Cry' werewolf thing #5 and also an obvious 1) transition towards wolfhood (he jumps towards the moon), 2) loss of a safety net (jumping away from the bridge) and 3) a leap of faith (duh).

Y'all, this IS the best shot. This is the one that instantly made this MV a 10/10... okay, not really, but it did a lot of heavy lifting. This is the moment we finally get explicit werewolfdom, and is also just generally great.

It's action-packed, it's scary, and it places Harua/the wolves in a position of power over us the viewer - as they should be. Even better than that, it perfectly transitions into the next shot with the wolf-jaw choreo.

Just don't look too close at that CGI...

This is the transition I'm talking about. And Maki's hair looking a little like the fur of a wolf in the background is also stellar.

Give yourself up to wolf-hood. Worship K.

HELLLLLLL YESSSSSSSSSSSS

The angle, the claw hands, the chaos of the shadows and the bridge beams. Yas. This is why I watch kpop.

I know &TEAM are jpop but they're kpop adjacent run by a kpop team so... yup.

'War Cry' wolfiness #9.

Omg I am so sorry for this screenshot but it shows the water-bending things they're doing, which is the important bit.

'War Cry' wolfiness #10.

#11.

#12 what a cool shot. This whole scene is wondrously done except for the weird crotch-povs on K earlier in the scene. Which I did not include for obvious reasons (ahem, asexual ahem).

YESSSSSS #13.

#14 and also there is now fire and broken glass - destruction and possibly a battle with ENHYPEN.

Or Sooha.

And that is my image limit for this post so see you in part 2!

#&team #lune #&team theories #first howling #first howling: now #now #mv analysis #war cry

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igiveyoumyblood · 6 months

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youtube

Hi y'all. I have seen the MV.

K's screentime is through the roof.

The song isn't my favourite but I think it will grow on me.

Love the wolfy MV.

The choreo is great, very ENHYPEN-coded (bruv I'd hope so). I'm looking forward to seeing how ENHYPEN's comeback mirrors this one. I seriously hope it does. What's the point of making the groups brother groups if they don't mirror each other? Ahem, HYBE I want more.

I want to analyse it but I also want to at least know all of the members names before I do. Believe it or not I watched most of &AUDITION, but people's names kind of went in one ear and out the other.... probably because my only concern was whether the group would debut or not because I wanted K to get his debut.

So I will try and analyse it in the near future when I know names. I won't be watching it again until then so I can have relatively pure reactions, lol.

What did you think, LUNE and ENGENE?

#&team #lune #&team theories #war cry #Youtube

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igiveyoumyblood · 7 months

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They also did the MEDUSA challenge with JUST B I'm in love.

#just b #&team

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igiveyoumyblood · 7 months

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by &TEAM (@andteam_official)

instagram

OMG Comeback time?!?!?!

I will do my best to know everyone this time. But hopefully even if I get people wrong my love for the werewolves will make up for it <3

#&team #lune #&team theories #first howling: now #Instagram

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igiveyoumyblood · 7 months

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youtube

Watching this again made me smile so much.

#&team #lune #Youtube

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igiveyoumyblood · 10 months

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Casper’s Podcast

The episodes of my not necessarily kpop/ATEEZ related podcast, uploaded to my YouTube channel. Check them out if you’re interested and let me know if there’s a topic you’d like to see covered!

Episode 1 - Historiography

Episode 2 - Kpop (coming 14/7/23)

#casper's podcast

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igiveyoumyblood · 11 months

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‘FIREWORK’MV First Reactions

It’s here, baby! Werewolf comeback!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!

Please let me preface this with the fact that,a lthough I love &TEAM and their concept and watched a bit of the survival show, I don’t know the members yet... expect for K, who other than the concept was the main reason I was interested in this group. I will do my best, but there might just be some ‘ahh yes this guy is doing this, this other guy is doing something else’ in this post.

My apologies to Lune who know everyone. I would appreciate any tips you can give me.

As with Bite Me, I was deeply disappointed by the lack of vampire content in this release, but I was happy with the amount of werewolf content.

This music video had a bizarre tone, though - it had the obvious serious and carefree moments of youth and werewolfhood, and that girl was back again - something that I appreciate because she links ENHYPEN and &TEAM. But I could not take the MV seriously when there were all of those shots of her just looking down at them dancing and them seriously dancing while looking up at her. I could not stop cackling - but I’ll point those moments out late, iof they didn’t stand out to you.

Alright, let’s get into it!

Lyrics

The song is pretty self-explanatory in name. It’s about those moments of youth where you stay out, late at night, together and watch the stars. I don’t really know if those moments exist often in real life, or if they are a figment of fanfiction and coming-of-age movies, but that’s a good chunk of the content of this song. It also has the nice little moments of falling in love that feel like fireworks... literally.

And there are the mandatory supernatural storyline mentions of magic and stars, and the mandatory werewolf mention of running towards your goal. A suspiscious lack of moon imagery.

They’re relatively plain and cliche lyrics, but this is when I remind you that, not only are cliches cliche for a reason, but also that werewolves as mystical heroes rather than monsters is a relatively new idea, and is only considered cliche and cringey because it became so popular in the Twilight era. So, let’s just say that the lyrics got the job done quite well, if in a boring way.

The MV

I love the room and the grainy filter they’ve put over the top. I hope this room isn’t supposed to contain 9 werewolf boys because that could create several issues.

I’m sure there are lots of references to the previous MV and to the webtoon. I ain’t paying for the webtoon (yet), so I don’t know those references other than the girl who shows up later, but I do know that the photos, calendars, and balloons remind me of the MV for ‘Under the Skin’- which had a Y2K theme and which focused on both time passing and a new chapter of life - literally, since K lost his mentor (?) but gained a group of friends.

And, there is of course the two high schools that the ENHYPEN and &TEAM members go to - I’m unsure how 25 year old K and 21 year old Heeseung (not to mention the other members in their 20s) got into these high schools.`But good on them, I guess.

I also have never really understood the obsession with having idols lying around asleep - the only time it’s made sense is if they’re in some weird dream state - like in TXT or ATEEZ’s storylines. And I’m prettty sure they aren’t in one here.

Anyway....

I love the unsubtle werewolf representation here. It’s also great because it has the running - which is both a werewolf thing and part of the lyrics.

However, with the grain, the fog, and the backlight, it really reminds me of Teen Wolf. And I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Not sure how or why the girl ended up with a gun but good on her.

However, we then end up with her chasing then on a bike, which definitely gives a sinister tone to the rest of the MV and to the previous shot of them running (which I initially assumed was joyful).

It’s also our first hint of the funky nonlinear aspects of this MV.

And the girl is pictured in warm light - like the sun, and like ENHYPEN. Which makes sense, since she, from my viewing of the MVs and related materials, seems to be affiliated with ENHYPEN, or at least with Sunghoon.

We get these flashabacks to happy memories of the boys and this girl, which is depressing in the hindsight of what we’ve just seen.

I love this shot. It’s short and snappy but obvious enough to get the point across. He’s against the red - ENHYPEN’s domain which the girl exists in. The gunshot looks like a firework, which was initially the joy of love and the times they spent together, but which now betrays him.

This kind of cinematography and symbolism is one of the main reasons I follow kpop.

Because yeah, they’re a jpop group but they’re run by a kpop company in the style of a kpop group.

And we get a nice flashback of what I assume is a party on the beach.

And of course boys being boys at the beach.

And teenage shennanagins. Is this flower supposed to be a dandelion? in which case - I looked it up, and a dandelion is apparently a symbol of hope and healing. So, since it’s being dropped we can reasonably assume that those things are now gone.

Here we have the happy fireworks.

And here some not-so-happy fireworks/lights.

Lmao I love how everyone’s just looking cool.

The pyjamas the boys are in also suggest that they are out of their element and have been suddely disturbed from sleep - you know, by something like someone trying to murder you?

Cute memory with the flowers. And related to the &TEAM theme of collecting and preserving memories.

Dang he’s got a lot of memories.

And this is where I let everyone know that this is only the first 30 seconds of the MV.

FRECKLES.

Lune who are better than me, who is this member?

Okay these flowers are different from the one that was dropped, but nonetheless bring us into the world of memories. This makes me think that the vampires have powers like teleportation and flight, while the werewolves have powers like telepathy and literally being able to store and protect memories. A very interesting concept, if it’s what HYBE are going for.

Here we have the hands connecting - the opposite of them coming apart earlier, and a reflection of when K met the boys in ‘Under the Skin.’

Nevermind the werewolves can fly too it seems.

Just wolf things.

And notepad - a way to store memories!

Thy literally have every way possible to store memories - cameras, photos, albums, notes, calendars, balloons and mementos. I love it.

This is the scene I can’t take seriously. I love that she is passively observing them, and that they are showing their passion. I also love that the ground has been turned into mud - presumably by the mist and damp, and by them dancing so much. But I can’t take it seriously that they’re all possibly fighting for the love of this girl, and fighting against vampires, and the way they do this is to dance together in a group while giving her a dramatic stare. I literally had to pause the video and take a break to laugh when I first saw this.

Second-hand embarrassment, I guess.

Anyway I’m glad they had fun.

I like that she smiles while dropping the flower - showing that she destroys their hope and love knowingly - but that whoever it was that dropped it out of the members was limp and without hope - she made him drop it.

Also love the creepy subtlety of her plucking a petal.

I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of this scene is, but I love that they’re in their pretigious high school eating their food and there’s just... a wolf.

Memories!!!!!

And we enter the memories! Which are basically the embodiment of youth.

Epic transition that;

Looks nice

Is more than a little sinister

FIRE

Warm tones aka vampires

Brings us back into the memories

Is done in an easy way to understand despite being so fast

Nice.

I see that your life is a tad tangled, K. That’s unfortunate.

He’s got brithday cake trauma.

Mandatory wolves having fun scene.

Mandatory sports scene since they play sports. And nice imagery of them fighting for the ball (aka the girl).

Wolves being wolves.

Haha you did this to yourselves, what are you so upset about?

I also like the contrast of the happier meadow scene and the darker, grittier fight/sports match. And how, while fighting each other, they managed to lose the girl.

Mandatory &TEAM water scene.

Mandatory being sad and reflecting on the past scene. But why would you bend the memory - you’re supposed to protect it?

Okay first, it’s a beautiful shot.

Second - you know what I said about them preserving memories in many different ways? They literally brought the flowers home!

Okay, that’s creepy. And it’s creepy not only because it defies gravity, but also because, since it defies gravity, it seems like it has been sucked from him - like a piece of his soul. And you know what sucks people’s souls out? Vampires.

I love the transition from the murder fireworks to the happy fireworks.

And now everyone gets to be sad because they were betrayed and are being hunted.

NOOOOO who made freckle boy cry????

And more happy firework foreshadowing... even though the things that it foreshadowed already happened in the MV.

Gosh I love nonlinear narratives.

Honestly still a little bit confused about the sleeping. There are a few possibilities - that they are kind of dead after the events of the actual MV, and that the sleeping is a representation of that, or that the girl has lulled them into this state of vulnerability, which is why she approaches slowly and with her hands behind her back - a show of dishonesty.

I see an exposed neck that would be perfect for a vampire to sink their fangs into.

Wonderful shot, very woolfy. I’m just not sure why the music cut out so suddenly when the video did - I’m sure they did it on purpose but it doesn’t communicate much and seems like a mistake.

Anyway.

Conclusions

It seems to me that the &TEAM storyline is kind of like a K angst-fest.

The MV had a sad lack of vampires, although it did allude to them wonderfully. It did a great job of telling a heart-wrenching nonlinear story, and had lots of great moments. The only thing that I felt was out of place was when they danced while staring at her. Other than that, a top-tier MV with simple but effective storytelling.

And werewolves whose mission is to store a preserve memories of all forms is a unique take on the genre which I hope that HYBE will continue to lean into.

#&team #&team theories #lune #first howling #first howling: we #we #mv analysis #firework

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igiveyoumyblood · 11 months

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Sacrifice MV First Reactions

Lmao why didn’t I get my notification that this came out? Booo, YouTube.

Anyway, I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing that ENHYPEN’s bside MVs are so full of rich imagery that may or may not be related to the storyline. It honestly makes me a bit scared of them. At least they aren’t 20 minutes long like TXT’s bside MVs.

But that’s all okay, because this is a wonderful MV. It’s beautiful and it’s clearly both a HYBE and ENHYPEN MV. Also, most of the analysis in it seems very obvious - I feel like I’ve missed something, but at the same time it doesn’t quite seem like they’re being subtle.

However, this one also has a sad lack of werewolves....

Anyway, full analysis below the line.

Lyrics

The song is very much the glorified and brooding pain of being a vampire - the thirst and starvation, suffocation, darkness, pain, etc. Very edgy. But in this case it’s okay, rather than cringe (I mean, it’s a little cringe), since it’s about vampires and the Gothic and stuff.

Speaking of - it is very Gothic. Although I did completely lose suspension of disbelief when they used the word ‘bae.’ Very weird.

The lyrics are generally reminiscent of codependent and toxic relationships - which is a topic that HYBE handle very well through lyrics, but which was done far better for TXT’s storyline than ENHYPEN’s - since, you know, TXT actually had a buildup to it.

This in no way diminishes the representation given to ENHYPEN - it’s just that ENHYPEN’s is good and TXT’s is 110000/10.

Anyway, I like vampires, so I like this.

NGL this shot just confuses me - since they’re not supposed to have reflections. They literally didn’t have reflections in Bite Me - although that may have been less about reflections and more about teleporting.

Okay, I will accept this, since I’m relatively certain they have had reflections before. Perhaps it is a remnant of either their human past.

I do like the desert setting and I do like how it has the combination of red sand, clear water, and plants. Big on the subversion of expectations.

Dying is a theme of the song, album, and concept, but I find it kind of funny how many times people fall over or cringe in pain in this MV.

The first time I saw these black things I thought they were fish. But it turns out that they’re crystals/feathers covered in blood or ink/blackened hearts. I love any and all of these options.

Mmmmm yess the lighting. And the circular room which reminds us of previous songs/MVs and especially ‘Bite Me’- but here it is a cage.

Bruv y u sideways?

Also, looks like the set Jungwon and Sunghoon were in in Bite Me - funny, since now it has a reflective table surface rather than a chessboard, and since Jake wasn’t in that scene.

Sorry, this one just reminds me of Jungkook in Blood Sweat and Tears. Admittedly, it does also remind me of Heeseung in Blessed-Cursed when he was stuck in that space full of dust.

Anyway, loving the lighting and the colour in the shot. The fabric and cool tones make it almost seem like it’s underwater - it creates both a sense of magic and abandonment. Very creepy, very Gothic, loving it. No clue what it’s meaning though, other than the obvious references to prison/entrapment, death, sacrifice, and possibly desire (from the link to Blood Sweat and Tears).

Love these shots of Jay struggling - it relates to the lyrics and the theme. And throughout the MV more of the scene and context are revealed which creates a lot of meaning - very fun.

Obvious heaven, paradise, and angel/vampire duality references. I find it interesting, however, that Sunoo is the one they chose to portray as angellic/a fallen angel. He’s the only one who was portrayed in this way so consistently, which is just interesting. Niki and Jake had wing moments, but only once each.

Angel wings and red (either blood, or the fruit of knowledge (desire)).

I love the dragging choreo but it’s only convincing me more and more that HYBE recycled TXT things for this ENHYPEN comeback...

Yas you get those wings Sunoo. Use them to murder the werewolves.

I like how the feathers falling is so fast - it gets the idea of pain and loss across, since it is coloured red and black, and since it is fast, thus violent, and then leads into another shot of Jay suffering.

It was a really interesting choice to put Jay upside down here - also an interesting choice to have the particles going upwards. Anyway, we’ll discuss this more later.

Heart crystal? That’s very weird, my dude.

But I do love the duality of Jay both up above and in cool, bright colours, vs below in dark warm colours. It makes us think that perhaps there are two of him on different sides of some line/battle. Idk if they did this on purpose, but knowing HYBE and filmmakers in general, they most likely did.

I also like how the heart thing that blue Jay holds could be considered the rotten soul of red Jay.

And this is the payoff for the previous Jay context clues! And for our intelligence as an audience. I love this shot because it is the one that gives context to everything we have seen so far. Here is Jay’s ideal self - bathed in light, at the gates to heaven, and fascinated by the dark soul of his damned self. And here we have the other Jay - probably the real/current one - a vampire, and in desperate need of saving. He’s in immense pain and struggles to reach his goals, but the light of heaven pushes his soul back down.

Also, fyi that the trees and set in general remind me of BTS and TXT’s storylines - is this the moment they decide to connect ENHYPEN to it too? Or are they just reusing their ideas and resources.

These plants in HYBE storylines are usually a representation of Magic Island, or of a dream state. So do with that what you will.

Dang dude, why’d you take it off?

Reminds me of Jungkook 2.0.

Also is that holy water?

Ew it’s alive!

Also looks like it might be corrupting them, as opposed to being the corrupted part of them? The difference between those two is... very blurry.

That’s right, you purge it from your life.

Alright Heeseung, I guess you chuck it then.

Lighttttttttiiiiiiiiiiing.

Bruv what is that? An egg? Your angelic soul?

VAMPIRE NECK.

VAMPIRE BANQUETS.

And of course similarities to Bite Me.

They legit probably filmed these on the same day.

Why is Niki so edgy this comeback? Niki I challenge you to a fencing bout.

10/10 shot, the tilt is a great way to make us scared.

Vampires, shadows, consumption, blood drinking, entrapment - 10/10.

It was at this point that I realised I was only about halfway through the MV. Whoops... Well, at least this comeback has been much more interesting than Pass The Mic.

11/10 choreo in general and especially this part - I love the motif of being controlled.

More falling. Rip Jungwon.

Yes you reach for that light of heaven.

Also love how the cage is kind of made up of windows and doors - they are meant to be traveled through and seen through, but we can’t travel through them or see through them.

If I was Heeseung i would have felt so cool shooting this.

Epic set, epic lighting, epic outfit which kind of looks like wings from above but off enough to make is know that they are something very different.

Okay I have been proven well and truly wrong about the reflections.

Anyway, looks like he’s having a midlife vampire crisis. And how do things just keep appearing in this sell? Is that another vampire thing?

Here you can clearly see the grimey glass of the window, which is a TEN OUT OF TEN lighting prop, especially with the fog. I used it in my short film and it is so fun to work with.

2 questions - why is it rippling, and why is Sunghoon here? Is he like Heeseung’s alter ego? Will the glass merge or do something funky like in the Matrix?

CHOREOGRAPHY.

There is something incredibly creepy about sweet Sunoo caressing his broken wing with blackened and corrupted feathers around him. And that is 100% how the Director and staff intended it. This is my kind of horror.

Somehow I don’t think Sunoo’s heart looks like this but okay.

Wonderfully religious. Reminds me of Death Note’s opening for some reason.

CHOREOGRAPHYYYYYYYY. I know I have criticised them using a lot of TXT stuff in this comeback, but if I was a member of either of those groups I would be so hyped to get choreographies because all of their choreos have been 10/10 epic ones.

It’s reminiscent of the sets from ‘Bite Me’and also looks like an upside down pyramid - are they in the Illuminati?

Idk if touching the water is a good idea, my guy.

A weirdly demure scene in the midst of this horror.

LIGHTING. PUPPET. IT’S LITERALLY FAKE LOVE.

But bruv why is it Niki? Are they all in this cage?

Ink blood is my favourite horror/supernatural thing. Not really, but it’s up there.

Can we get a rip Niki.

Also interesting that he has this wing below him - when so far Sunoo is the only one with the wings. Maknae things? (ahem, Kai, ahem).

And Jake gives up his wings to... worship the corrupted heart? Whatever works for you, man.

YESSSSSSSS THIS IS THE VAMPIRE STUFF I SIGNED UP FOR. BRING BACK GIVEN-TAKEN.

Well good on them for solving whatever problems they had.

Or this second picture could be a flashback...

Or maybe I’m too obsessed with the non-linear....

Mirroring them looking at the girl in Drunk-Dazed - a juxtaposition of heaven and hell?

Conclusions

This is the vampire content I signed up for. Bite Me has grown on me massively, but this is still 10/10 a better MV and choreo. I love the female backup dancers, but I’d love them more if they were doing this choreo.

Now I’ve made myself sound like a Bite Me hater. I swear I ain’t. I’m a people-who-sexualise-Niki hater.

Stan the backup dancers, people. Stan the vampires and their wings.

I don’t have anything else to say - my brain short circuited because I loved it so much and it made my creepy-vampire lover brain go feral.

#enhypen #enhypen theories #engene #dark blood #sacrifice #mv analysis

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