Review

Love Live All Stars Anime Rhythm Game

Anime, Anime Review, Dressup Games, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Life Sim, Review, Shoujo, Simulation, Slice of Life /

The sequel to KLab’s smash hit Love Live School Idol Festival, Love Live All Stars takes it to the next level with fully animated Live2D characters that dance around on the screen.

Like its predecessor, Love Live School Idol Festival, Love Live All Stars is a card collecting rhythm game with cute anime girls to collect.

The new installment in Love Live has a few key differences from the original, most notably is the animation. There’s also costumes you can unlock for your girls to wear and a new voltage gameplay system that allows you to score more points. read more

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Maitetsu Pure Station Nintendo Switch Review

Anime, Game Review, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Nintendo Switch, Review, Visual Novel /

I received this copy of Maitetsu Pure Station in exchange for a review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Title: Maitetsu Pure Station

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Release Date: January 2020

Genre: Visual Novel

Overall Score: 87/100 87% Very Good Game For Girls

Geeky: 5/5 This game is educational and full of both history and sci-fi elements.

Sweetie: 5/5 This game also has adorable cute anime characters and stunning graphics. The story is good with a lot of emotional and cute scenes. The production values are high and the music and voice acting are all well above average. read more

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Starlight Stage A Pop Idol Card Game By Japanime Games

Anime, Boardgame, Boardgame Review, Card Game, Featured, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Review, Shoujo, Simulation, Slice of Life /

I recently received Starlight Stage A Pop Idol Card Game from RightStuf. RightStuf is one of the oldest and largest distributors of Otaku merchandise in the US. Check out their website at www.RightStuf.com for everything from anime, manga, action figures, Japanese candy, games, and more.

I decided to purchase Starlight Stage because I’m a fan of mobile idol games and idol anime such as Love Live, Utapri, Bang Dream, Ensemble Stars, and yes, Idol M@ster.

I do not know for sure if this board game is based on Idol M@ster but I suspect it is, since one of the early and most popular Idol M@ster mobile games is titled Idol M@ster Starlight Stage. For whatever reason though, if it is in fact at all related, they stripped it of the Idol M@ster title and just dubbed it Starlight Stage. Either way, related or not, if you love the mobile games or anime idol games, you’ll love Starlight Stage Card Game by Japanime Games. read more

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Sweet Dance Online Anime Dressup Mobile Music Dancing Game

2 Comments / Anime, Casual Game, Dressup Games, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Review, Videogame /

I just started playing Sweet Dance, a pretty cute mobile game with a variety of music hits from around the world. Songs include English hits from the US and Europe as well as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese tracks.

The game has several different dance modes. In the first dance mode, bubble mode, you must simply tap the bubbles on the screen. In Trail mode you must tap left, right, or both sides of your screen depending on the colors of the bubbles. Pink is Right. Blue is left. Yellow is both. The beginning mandatory tutorial only makes you play Bubble mode so I was confused when I played Trail mode but eventually figured it out. There’s also a beat mode which is like DDR for your fingers. In beat mode you must quickly punch in a sequence of arrow movements and then lock in your sequence at the right time with the beat button (The right time is when the red dot is near the white line).
read more

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CocoPPa Dolls New Anime Mobile Dressup Game From The Creators of CocoPPa Play That’s A Lot Like Love Nikki Dressup Queen.

Anime, Anime News, Casual Game, Dressup Games, Free Game, Game Review, In Game Events, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii News, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, News, Otome Game, Review, Videogame /
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cocoppa-dolls/id1489434676

I’ve been playing a new mobile Dressup game called CocoPPa Dolls. As its name suggests it is by the creator of CocoPPa Play although this new title plays a lot more like Love Nikki or Romantic Diary than CocoPPa Play.

The gameplay is simple. You play Gacha to get new items for your avatar to wear. Some Gacha are time limited and some have rare items and others are always available with less rare items.

Ok so I know what you’re thinking. That sounds just like CocoPPa Play but that’s about when the similarities end.

From here you have a few different unique features… Let’s look at them briefly. Pictures may not be related to the text here I’m just sharing cute screenshots I took while playing. read more

CocoPPa Dolls New Anime Mobile Dressup Game From The Creators of CocoPPa Play That’s A Lot Like Love Nikki Dressup Queen. Read More »

Sugoimart Sailor Moon Keepsake Box Review

Anime, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Review, Website Review /

Thanks to the folks at Sugoimart.com for allowing me to review the Sailor Moon Jewelry Box. Check out their store at www.SugoiMart.com

First of all let’s talk about shipping. The product arrived fast in about 3 days and was well packed with lots of bubble wrap.

Note: Shipping times may vary given that items are being sent to you directly from Japan.

Let’s talk about the site itself. SugoiMart.com is a great place to find Japanese toys, Japanese candy, Japanese housewares and more. read more

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A3 Anime Otome Game

A3! Actor Training Game Review

Anime, Card Game, Casual Game, CCG, Collectibles, Dating Sim, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Otome Game, Review, Shoujo, Videogame, Visual Novel /

I had previously played the Japanese version briefly of A3! Act, Actor, Addict, an otome simulation game that puts you in the role of a young woman looking for her father who went missing 8 years ago.

Cybrid has now released an English version of the game, which is good, because this one has almost no gameplay, and tons of reading (as most Otome and Visual novels). Which is why I only played the JP version very briefly, because I can’t read Japanese, and with little gameplay, and no story (since I couldn’t understand it) it became boring quickly. But now that it is in English, I’m enjoying it quite a bit. read more

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Tamagotchi On Review 2019

Casual Game, Game Review, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Monster Taming, Raising Sim, Retro Game, Review, Simulation, Tech Review, Toy Review, Toys, Videogame, Virtual Pet /

I just recently purchased the Fairy Pink Tamagotchi On from Barnes and Noble. Here’s my thoughts after the first 24 hours. I did a lot of research prior to purchasing Tamagotchi On. Tamagotchi On is also known as Tamagotchi Meets in Japan and Tamagotchi Some in Korea. The Tamagotchi Meets has a lot of bugs which were all fixed for the English Tamagotchi On. The bugs included things such as draining the batteries in just a day or Tamagotchis getting glitched when they evolved.

I also read that a lot of people received used looking Tamagotchi On from amazon who had badly scratched screens despite being brand new. Luckily mine was in perfect condition. I don’t know if the scratched screens were just from Amazon, or maybe a bad batch, afterall it’s been out for about 2 months now so my tama is from a different manufacturing batch.

I chose to purchase from Barnes and Noble because you can get 30% off your first toy order when you join the free kid’s club. Tamagotchi On are pretty pricey around $50-60 so saving 30% is a big deal.

I also prepared for my Tamagotchi’s arrival by buying a “case” which as far as I can tell is just a decorative touch. It might offer some protection but not much. When it comes to Tamagotchi “cases” there’s 3 basic types. Silicone which is what I bought – I picked out a pink Pusheen case which still isn’t here. Crochet cases from places like Etsy – many of which have cat or rabbit ears. And Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitizer holders which people are using mostly as wrist straps. Unlike the original Tamagotchis of the 90s, the new ones are not keychains. They do have a place you could attach a chain, wrist strap, or lanyard though. Or just pop your tamagotchi into the Bath and Bodyworks hand sanitizer.

The other ways I prepared for my Tama’s arrival include buying a tiny screwdriver and some rechargeable batteries. The battery door is secured with a tiny screw. I bought an eyeglass repair kit. If you live in the united states you can buy these at the dollar tree store. It comes with 2 screw drivers that fit the tiny screw and a cleaning cloth that you can use on the screen. And it only costs a dollar.

I dunno about you, but I am a 90s kid. I grew up with the original Tamagotchi. The new Tamagotchi On is very similar to its 90s counterpart. The basic concept of the game remains the same, you navigate the menus with 3 buttons. The first button toggles through the menus, the 2nd button confirms your selection, and the third button cancels and goes to the previous screen.

The gameplay also has not changed much on the surface. You feed, play with, and clean up after your virtual pet. The big differences between Tamagotchi On and the 90s version are that the Tamagotchi On is in full color and has a backlit screen. The Tamagotchi On also features some new gameplay elements, the biggest of which is the ability to connect to the Tamagotchi On app and play minigames to earn coins, or meet other players from around the world. Once your Tamagotchi is an adult, you can even marry another player’s Tamagotchi and have babies, including twins. The genetics of the parents pass down and there are over 1 million different combinations and ways that your Tamagotchi can look. You  can use the coins from the minigames to dressup your tama, decorate your room, buy toys or food for your tama, or put your Tama in a daycare so you can take time away, perfect if you have to leave your tama when you go to work or school.

If you have 2 Tamagotchi they can have playdates or communicate when you connect via infrared. You may want 2 Tama anyways because there are 2 versions *and more in Japan* with exclusive places you can unlock and a few Tamagotchi exclusive to each version. And in some cases (in Japan) there are rare genes in the special versions. The two places you can visit right now are Magic Land in the Purple or Green Magic Tamagotchi On US versions, or Fairy Land in Pink or Blue Fairy versions. The fairy version has more cute type Tamagotchi while the Magic version has more cool type tamagotchi. So which version you get may be influenced by what type of Tamagotchi you like best. If you like cute things like unicorns, or cool things like bats, vampires, witches, etc. But in the end it really doesn’t matter since you can marry and have babies and get the genes from all of the versions, even the Japanese exclusive versions, so you should just go for the shell color you like best. The white Magic one was limited in Japan but it’s now going to be an amazon exclusive in the US and Canada.

There are also many special events that happen. Like right now it is fall time and sometimes a tamagotchi will visit mine and they will go harvest fall food from the trees. Sometimes my tamagotchi will play hide n seek, or play with bubbles, or try to talk to me to get my attention.

It is a simple cute game with the object being to reach adulthood and breed and aim either for genes you like, or for rare genes that you want to collect.

Is it worth the high price? It faces a tough market, saturated with apps on the phone, some including other virtual pets, or even more complex games, all for free. each day new apps release, and kids have cell phones these days. But maybe Bandai never intended to target kids in the first place; perhaps they’re banking on people like me who collected the first tamagotchi to be willing to pay for the new Tamagotchi On.

What I like about Tamagotchi On is the feeling of nostalgia, the cuteness, both of the graphics, and the outer shell, and the ability to breed and see genes pass down to the babies. I also like that I only need to spend a few minutes a couple times a day checking in on the Tamagotchi. It doesn’t require much time, effort, or thought. It’s just a simple cute game. I like the feel of the egg in my hand, and the buttons are comfortably placed. This Tamagotchi is larger than the 90s version and seems a perfect fit for my hands. The color backlit screen is also a big improvement over the 90s version.

What I don’t like about Tamagotchi On is no built in keychain/wrist strap/lanyard mechanism, and sadly, I think I’ll enjoy the game for a few weeks and then bore/tire of it quickly because it’s just too simplistic. But on the plus side I do think I will revisit the Tamagotchi from time to time, whenever I feel like playing a cute and carefree game.

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Godaddy Sucks

Honest Godaddy Review – Why I Left Godaddy After 20 Years

Featured, Opinion, Review, Service Review, Tech Review, Technology, Web Design, Website Review /

I joined Godaddy back in 1999. Aside from some other free very early websites back in the early 90s, like Geocities, Godaddy was the only web host provider I ever had. And I was perfectly happy with them. Any time I had an issue, which honestly, in and of itself was pretty rare, the support team was quick to fix it. I didn’t like the overly sexualized sensationalized advertising, but as a marketing professional myself, I understand that sometimes sex sells. I didn’t care – and honestly didn’t know – about the questionable ethics of both the company and of its founder. All I knew is my websites worked and it was cheap and that was good enough.

So why after being a happy customer for over 20 years would I choose to leave? Because of a few recent interactions over what should have been a very simple issue. It opened my eyes to how poor the support team really is, and how money hungry the company is, and most importantly, how they treated their most loyal of customers who have been with them since almost the founding of the company. How little they did to try to save my business and how little I mattered to them. I will not be treated like that. And money talks, so I put my money where my mouth was and I chose a new web host who is almost triple in price what I paid to Godaddy, but I don’t mind. Honestly, since moving my site about a month ago now, I notice it’s so much faster and performs so much better. And the few interactions I’ve had with the support team, were all handled professionally and quickly.

So what was my issue? A recent update of wordpress required an update to PHP versions. This should be simple enough. I am a technical person. I went to the settings in Godaddy… and… I was already on the most “current” version… php 5.6 – a version that was over 5 years old and for which support had stopped almost a year ago…. With no way to access a higher version, I contacted Godaddy.

They informed me that my “Deluxe Linux Hosting Package” could not be updated to a higher version of PHP…. Not so “Deluxe” is it? But they told me I could switch packages to one that was cheaper, had the same unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage, and actually costs less. Great! Let’s do it, I told them.

But the catch, I would have to back up and move all of my websites myself – I had about 12 of them, or they could do professional migration for $99 per site. And to put a cherry on top of it all, despite having just one CPanel, and one hosting package. Godaddy insisted that I had to pay $99 per domain name. I am just a hobby blogger – where on earth am I going to get over $1000 to migrate all of my sites?!! I make maybe one check from google ads a year, an affiliate commission here or there, and a few sponsored posts a year.

I know backing the sites up and moving them is not a hard job, anyone can get on FTP backup the files and reupload… But I live in a very rural area where there are amish people and more cows than cars, and internet connections are slow, and unstable. And I did try to FTP my sites myself but it kept timing out – 20 years worth of files, even just for 1 site takes hours if not days, on my connection, and the time outs had me worried about corrupt files or losing my data. I asked Godaddy if they could please waive the migration fees and was told that “We can’t work for free” by a manager. – I asked several reps and eventually spoke to a manager and the answer was the same. Nothing they could do unless I paid.

Well guess what? There are hundreds of webhosts who WILL migrate me for free!! So you have just lost a customer. A happy customer who has been with you for 20 years and probably would have been with you another 70 years – or the rest of my life… But you didn’t care… you didn’t care I paid money monthly for the hosting, or annually for the domains, you couldn’t see that you would have EASILY recouped that 99 dollar fee in less than a year.

If you’re curious what host I chose. I chose Siteground. I considered a lot of other options, but I feel good about my decision. I almost chose Fastcomet. Their prices are hard to beat, but I read they have some issues with site uptime. Most reviews don’t tell you about this, but I found 2 or 3 more honest reviews out there.

When shopping for a new webhost, you have to be careful, because a lot of reviews are sponsored or affiliate reviews and will be more glowing and you get pulled in and then “stuck”. Luckily, a lot of web hosts want your business and will migrate you away from whoever your “bad” host is. So you’re never really stuck.

Don’t settle for a web host provider who doesn’t value you as a customer. Let your money speak, just like I let mine speak to tell Godaddy I had enough. I know I’m just one small customer in part of a multimillion dollar company, but I work hard for my money, and if they don’t want my business, there’s plenty of other hosts who do.

It is unacceptable that 1.) I was on an old plan and never had any notice about PHP being depreciated. They stopped support completely last year meaning I didn’t even receive security updates or etc. And my version was so old probably a lot of plugins/themes/and in fact the newest version of wordpress itself isn’t compatible – It shouldn’t be my problem or expectation on the customer to fix this issue. I know how to update PHP but if there’s no option to update it – that should fall on Godaddy to move me to a plan that has at least a current supported version. 2.) And equally unacceptable that no one did anything to help lower the costs, etc. I can go migrate to hundreds of other hosts for free, but Godaddy can’t move me to a different plan or server with the correct PHP for “free”? It’s not “free” because I’m a paying customer. No one is asking you to do anything for “free” I’m just asking for my websites to work, which were broken by their lack of proper PHP.

I will never recommend Godaddy to anyone again. Previously I always recommended them, we even use them at my work because of me and have probably about 80 domains and multiple sites. I won’t tell my work to leave Godaddy either — but I will warn you blog readers – Godaddy doesn’t deserve my business, and they don’t deserve yours either.

Siteground is running a promotion right now, if you pay for a year of Go Geek hosting up front, you get it for slightly more than what it’d normally cost for 3 months. It works out to under $12 a month. Siteground has a free wordpress migration plugin that lets you flee your bad hosting company for free. They’ll also move one site for free for you with their professional migration… Or if you need them to move your site, it’s only $30, not $99 like Godaddy…. I actually had to have them move one of my sites for me because it was having an error when I tried… but fine, I spent an extra $30, instead of $99 (or 1,000+ for all the sites that Godaddy ridiculously wanted).

Siteground has an affiliate program too; remember what I told you about affiliate programs, you have to be wary of what you read, do your research and make your own decisions. I applied but as of time of this post am not yet in their affiliate program.

I can however refer them and earn a free month of hosting, so if you’re interested in a new host, and want to check them out, especially with their awesome special pricing right now, here’s a link to do so. https://www.siteground.com/recommended?referrer_id=8158484.

Update: 10/12/19: I’m now an affiliate of Siteground – full transparency and disclosure here, if you use this next link I will make a commission: https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=1a41a164ae9c30dc54ffe5a58032f16c

Or if you don’t want to use my affiliate link, you can always just visit siteground.com

Hopefully this review will spare someone the heartache, anger, frustration, and time that I spent with Godaddy. All I can say, is stay as far away as possible from these crooks.

There may come a day some day where I am dissatisfied with Siteground too, but honestly, I’ve been happy so far, although it’s only been a month or two since I migrated. Do your own research, talk to a lot of people, and take into consideration the factors that are important to you. I would strongly discourage you from joining GoDaddy, but I can’t tell you what’s best for your web hosting needs, I can only tell you about my own experiences with them.

Honest Godaddy Review – Why I Left Godaddy After 20 Years Read More »

Recast BJD

Recast ABJD – A Year Later – Would I Still Recommend Purchasing Recast?

Balljoint Doll, BJD, Dolls, Featured, Review, Toy Review, Toys /

I shared my decision to purchase my first recast BJD, about 14 months ago now. I wrote a very in depth, as neutral as I could manage, post about the pros and cons of buying Recast ABJD which you can read here.

A year has passed now since my first recast dolls arrived, and I have bought many other Recast BJD since then.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

My new #recastbjd #recastminifee #minifeesarang #minifee #sarang #recastfriendly #abjd #bjd #doll from #chinabjd.

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

I make all of my recast purchases from Chinabjd on Aliexpress and would recommend them to anyone looking to own a recast ABJD.

I have over 20 legit dolls, and a handful (but rapidly increasing amount) of recasts, mostly fairyland minifees (although I own some legit minifees too).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

My #recastbjd #minifeemio #minifee #mio got a new outfit yesterday. #recastfriendly #kawaii #cute #chinabjd #doll #dolls #bjd #abjd #dollfairyland #fairyland #dollphotography #bjdphotography #abjdphotography

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

When I first wrote my lengthy informative piece about Pros and Cons of Recast ABJD, it was mostly just research and not much first hand experience. So I thought I’d follow it up with a new post, a year later, to see how my own personal experiences went in regards to owning a recast.

All photos sprinkled in here are of my recast dolls except at the end I share another alternative that is not recast, but can help you save money, and I actually prefer that over recast, but you’ll have to stay til the end to see that :).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#littlemimi #mimi #mimisworld #mimiscafe #catcafe #cats #dolls #toys #doll #lati #latidoll #cute #kawaii #bjd my latidoll Luna is a recast. #recastbjd #recastfriendly read more

Recast ABJD – A Year Later – Would I Still Recommend Purchasing Recast? Read More »

BTS

BTS World Game Review

Card Game, Casual Game, CCG, Collectibles, Dating Sim, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Kpop, Mobile Game, Otome Game, Review /

BTS now has an official visual novel style game that puts you in the role of managing your favorite boy band. Unfortunately, it is a great concept but has poor execution. There are lots of features which sound fun, but somehow still miss the mark. Even if you love BTS, which I do, this game still feels dull and boring. But somehow it’s cute, and I still find myself playing it and hoping it will get better. I’m grateful they made this game and took time to translate the text to English. Even if it is rather mediocre at best.

Check out the full review below.

Name: BTS World

Genre: Visual Novel / Otome Game / Dating Sim / Manager Sim

Publisher: Net Marble

Where To Get:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netmarble.btsw&hl=en_US

Iphone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bts-world/id1435577798

Price: Free

Release Date: June 2019

My Score: 51/80 64% D “Average Game For Girls”

The game has only been out for about 2 weeks at this point, so hopefully they can keep adding new updates to make the game more exciting. The first chapter is especially dull. It needs a better introduction to the game, because no one is going to stick around to keep playing when the first dozen or more missions are so lackluster. I keep playing to see the cute boys, but you could just watch BTS youtube videos and get the same effect lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klC15XDGxTY[/embedyt]

Geeky: 2/5 – Gameplay is bad, story is boring, but yet, it is definitely geeky, only geeky girls (and guys?) who love BTS will play this game.

Sweetie: 5/5 – The game is cute, with each member being featured in their own chapters and putting you in the middle of their story – even though that story really isn’t good at all. I like being able to pretend to text/chat with BTS, and watch their cute reactions. Who is your favorite BTS member? I like Jimin and Jin. They are so cute.

Gameplay: 4/10 – I want to rate this higher… but I just can’t… It has so many features, collecting cards like in Love Live, visual novel/otome story like idea factory games, dressup minigames like love nikki, chatting/phoning like Mystic Messenger…. yet… somehow… even though it draws inspiration from all of these amazing popular games that I love… it somehow… feels flat to me… The features are there… but they lack heart if that makes any sense?

Also one thing that drives me crazy is we can’t take screenshots, and can’t share our cards / brag about rares, etc on social media; that kills a lot of the fun for me.

Story: 3/10 – The story is bad… really bad… Almost can’t force myself to keep playing the game because the story is so slow, boring, dull, just blah…. You guys know I don’t like giving spoilers when I review a game, I like to let you discover the stories for yourselves… I should add I’m not very far in the game yet? Maybe about half way through? Maybe it will get better?

To give you a “highlight” of the story “concept” BTS World takes place in an alternate universe where BTS has never met. You receive a strange message on your phone telling you that you have won a free ticket to a BTS concert, but when you arrive, it’s only a single member, who is waiting to sign a contract which you somehow mysteriously have been carrying around.

Surprise, you’re BTS’ manager. Only you have any memory of who BTS is in the “Real World”. Here in this alternate universe, you work at Big Hit and have been tasked with recruiting talent for a new boy band who will eventually become what we know as BTS.

You do this by progressing through a visual novel style game, although there are few choices along the way.

The game assumes alot about you as the player. It assumes you already know who BTS is, and that you have in depth intimate knowledge about each of the members of BTS. The game doesn’t really provide you any of this information, because why would you be playing this game unless you love BTS right? (that’s their thinking not mine, I personally “like” BTS, but I’m not really knowledgeable about every single member).

I think the story could be improved by assuming less. Giving the characters more… character? I want to learn/know more about each member of BTS while I’m playing… but I feel like it doesn’t really tell me much… which leaves me feeling uninterested…

The games first several missions are literally like “OMG it’s xyz Member, what’s he doing here? Oh he signed my contract, and teased me because I’m freaking out again. I’m a really bad manager. I will do my best to help BTS”

I rather it assume that the player only has minimal knowledge – or better yet even, no knowledge, of BTS. I rather see the members introduced doing things they enjoy/love, like what’s their favorite food, what other hobbies do they have aside from kpop, like maybe playing video games, playing basketball, reading, volunteering with animals, I dunno, whatever BTS does in their spare time.

I feel like that would add some… heart… or humanity… or something to this game…. Give me a reason to care about the characters….

The target audience of this game, the millions of ARMYs are probably perfectly happy with this game, as evidenced by the 4.8 rating on Google…. I don’t consider myself an ARMY… but I do consider myself a fan of BTS – as evidenced here the last month or two that I’ve been sharing my listening habits with you readers, you can see I constantly list BTS (among also other KPop artists).

But even though I’m a fan, I couldn’t tell you too much; hell I can’t even name every member honestly – sorry, I’m not like die-hard… I’m just kinda a casual fan… but I would like to play this game too… but it just… frustrates me that I feel detached from the story and characters because the game does nothing to introduce them, tell me about them, let me “get to know them”.

Which leads us to…

Characters: 7/10 – I’m rating this highly – I am taking points away for the lack of character “development” – but the characters are actual BTS members and they have made videos and pictures etc just for this game, which is really cute, where they speak right to you as a manager. And you can see cute clips and introductions and it’s very cute. I love the cute boys. That’s the only thing saving this game. lol.

Graphics: 8/10 – Sometimes… the graphics look very cheesy in the novel (main gameplay parts), because they are so stiff. I’m used to Live2D where the characters move fluidly… But… in other sections, even some high level cards, there is real video clips, and BTS is so cute, who couldn’t love the Graphics, really?

Voice: 10/10 – BTS provides voice clips for the game too. You can hear BTS talking to you :).

Music: 10/10 – What BTS game wouldn’t have good music? duh lol.

Replay Value: 2/10 – I’m not sure… it’s only been out for 2 weeks – will they have time-limited cards, special events, etc? I hope so, otherwise once you complete the story (which isn’t even that good in the first place) I see no reason to keep playing the game.

My Score: 51/80 64% D “Average Game For Girls” – Yeah, I’d say this game is really just Average. Much better games out there… but if you love BTS – and know a lot about BTS – like I know Millions of ARMYs do – then you will probably super love this game. For me, it’s just kinda cute/amusing but ultimately not a very good game at all, despite that I like BTS quite a bit, but my lack of intimate knowledge of the band and its members ultimately hurts my enjoyment of this game. Your mileage may vary, especially if you’re a BTS super fan. lol.

BTS World Game Review Read More »

Black Pink

What Am I Listening To This Week? Still Not Tired Of Love Songs Or Kpop English Covers

Music Review, Music Videos, Review /

It’s that time again. Time to share with you what I’ve been listening to this week. The first song on the list actually isn’t a KPop song. Are you shocked? lol. But I did discover it when I saw a cover of it by an Asian youtuber. So there is that.

Here’s the original non Kpop version

Lauv and Troye Sivan – I’m So Tired of Long Songs

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boUl0jPZMdg[/embedyt]

Here’s the cover I found. Not as good as the original, but still pretty decent.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcJU0DHJHQE[/embedyt]

2. BTS – Fake Love

This is one of my favorite BTS songs and there are a lot of great English Covers Out there. But first, here’s the original by our boys BTS

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C2z4GqqS5E[/embedyt]

My favorite cover is this one by Emma Heesters

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PSaFQr44UQ[/embedyt]

I also really like Elise Silv3rT3ar’s version. Her lyrics are different. I think maybe all the songs on the BTS albulm revolve around the story of Smeraldo? Because in Elise’s version she says “I grew a flower that could never bloom in a dream that could never come true” and in the song I shared last week, The truth untold it’s about the legend of the Smeraldo flower. And both songs are about hiding your true feelings.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV9iD3pCv90[/embedyt]

Last week I shared a few other covers by Ysabelle; here’s her English cover of BTS Fake Love.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TZWzYEv0xw[/embedyt]

Impaofsweden also has a Fake Love cover here:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSan3tYEk5g[/embedyt]

Shayne Orock has a ton of anime and Kdrama covers and he is just a young kid. He’s probably like Justin Bieber’s Age when Bieber was discovered by Usher on Youtube. And he sounds better than Bieber did at that age I think. I know he’s done some concerts in some Asian speaking countries – I’m not sure if he’s Korean? He looks different, bone structure wise than most Koreans, but maybe that’s because he hasn’t had much plastic surgery that’s so popular over there? His covers are great, Fake Love is one of his best covers in my opinion.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em-_dGEx-Ho[/embedyt]

Awhile back a contestant on the X-Factor UK also did an English Cover of Fake Love at Simon’s house.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_94PRybYQ[/embedyt]

And later she went on to perform the song also at the live shows.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbNOkqueFKw[/embedyt]

Honestly, I don’t really like her voice that much, but she is only 16, and to perform that song on TV at such a young age, she is pretty incredible.

There’s even a heavy metal version… wtf? really? lol… really. Even weirder it’s in Korean still and performed by a bunch of young white kids… This is just too weird lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdjhmGNlKWs[/embedyt]

Even weirder… there’s a cover by an Asian guy in English, done in an R&B style – I actually, love this one. It’s so good. His lyrics are completely different. I like his voice.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDigR8WGQ5g[/embedyt]

Back to some normal sounding covers, here’s a cover by shimmeringrain

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ax3uhc6Ms[/embedyt]

Here’s another version by Sybass – he needs to work a bit more on emoting more, having more emotion behind the words he sings, but otherwise, it’s really good. He just sounds a bit like he’s reading lines, instead of feeling the emotion behind the song.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSoDy0r70xY[/embedyt]

Astra King is a bit too auto-tuned for my tastes, but not bad either.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaRxCKRvf0g[/embedyt]

And the men love auto tune too. It’s a bit much, but sorta interesting lol – Is his name Teflon Sega? Why not, I guess right? I mean bands often put together random words for their names right? lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T94XHk-r-qc[/embedyt]

This one by Amy B is good because it uses real instruments which gives it a neat feel. Her English pronunciation isn’t very good though.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pl9NpkEH2s[/embedyt]

This one just posted about 12 hours ago as of June 6th when I’m working on this blog post. It only has 3 views right now. She’s pretty good, better than just “3 views good” lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtRogFe4LBA[/embedyt]

There are hundreds of other covers of this song on youtube, maybe the most covered song ever.

3. NCT Dream X HRVY – Don’t Need Your Love

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESVsbCkFvG4[/embedyt]

This is a brand new video, just uploaded 15 hours ago as of my writing this on June 6th. It’s mostly in English and the boys are cute and their dancing is great. It’s the 45th most trending video on Youtube and has almost 2 million views, probably much more than that by time you read this post.

4. Beautiful – Cover by Daryl Ong and Dea

Last week, I shared the “other Beautiful” cover by Daryl (the one from Goblin). I’d never heard of him before. But after exploring his youtube channel for a bit, I discovered he’s really talented and apparently was made internet famous by season 2 of the Voice (Philippines version)

This week I’m still listening to his cover of Beautiful from Goblin, and stumbled upon his cover of Beautiful (originally by camilla caballo).

Check it out here:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIkwwSfH74[/embedyt]

5. Dancing On My Own – Cover by Daryl Ong

I love the original song by Callum Scott, so it’s no surprise I also love Daryl Ong’s cover.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ZKq_Z9-mE[/embedyt]

6. Monsta X Shoot Out

Well, first I found this lyric version here, which is in English… and I think it’s Monsta X singing; we know they are fluent in English because of their first English song “Play It Cool” which I shared last week. But I can’t find like any official videos for this version, so maybe it is just a cover? It’s good though. This song in general is a bit “hard” for my tastes, I prefer more “pop” sounding music instead of rock, but I really like Monsta X. (even though I’ve only been a fan for like 2 weeks now lol)

Here’s the video in English.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyYPw07BNnU[/embedyt]

And here’s their official music video, which is mostly in Korean:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS10Zz49FHE[/embedyt]

7.) Ed Sheeran and BTS Collabs – Happier and Make It Right

So apparently there’s been 2 collabs between Ed Sheeran and BTS. The first is from last year, called Happier, I think BTS is singing backup on some choruses, and of course they’re featured in the official music video.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr3i509TPxE[/embedyt]

and more recently there’s a mostly Korean song called Make It Right – which was I guess written by Ed Sheeran? Not sure if Ed actually sings at all in this one. Maybe he’s playing his guitar

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVs1loGEVg[/embedyt]

And there’s an english cover already here by Jeffrey Chang:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d3YbXFOGMA[/embedyt]

And another English cover by Huwe here:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PRi28YR9tg[/embedyt]

8. Blackpink – Ddu Du Ddu Du

This song has over 800 MILLION views on youtube… and it’s easy to see why. These girls are so fierce.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNzOHi8sJs[/embedyt]

And like any popular Kpop song, there’s dozens of English covers on youtube too.

Here’s 2 of the most popular girls doing English Kpop covers, Ysabelle and Emma Heesters

Emma’s voice is perfect for this song I think. And Ysabelle can rap really well with her deep voice. This is my favorite English cover of Ddu Du Ddu Du. They have over 2 million views. You go girls :).

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq__8JoUyHk[/embedyt]

I can’t figure out this next video… uploaded by a user named rotschaa… The comments on this video seem to indicate that it is actually Lisa and Jennie singing – and therefore not a cover? Most of the people don’t like the lyrics. Someone pointed out that the lyrics are actually about rapping and making money, because all of the things are actually old-school rapper’s names. Ice-T, Hi-C, and OG, and “More Juice than Hi-C” means BlackPink makes more money. – The person who uploaded this video said the lyrics are “Bitch, I’m a star, but not Patrick” (spongebob reference), but someone said the actual lyric is “Bitch, I’m a star but not perfect” which would make more sense and be less funny lol.

Anyways, if that really is Blackpink rapping, and not just a cover, I would really like to see them release a 100% English version, because this is my favorite Blackpink song, and the girls have excellent English pronunciation. Aside from the Patrick/Perfect line lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROgYdp64zWE[/embedyt]

Shimmeringrain has a cover here, and her lyrics are pretty close to the original song too.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdxbW-6leY[/embedyt]

Joytastic Sarah has a cover too. I feel like this song isn’t quite right for her, because I really enjoy a lot of her other covers, but this one is just lacking something in my opinion. Still better than anything I could do though lol so who am I to judge right?

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KozsTBalHI[/embedyt]

A new (to me at least) girl covering Kpop songs, Charlotte Hannah, tries her hand at a Blackpink cover here.

She’s using Joytastic’s lyrics from above. And this song suits her a bit more than it did for Sarah in my opinion. You have to be a badass chick to get the same attitude of the original Korean version.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Y5oD14OQE[/embedyt]

And here’s a cover by Bricie

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsTvHZASyEk[/embedyt]

And there’s even men that are doing covers of Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoCuplaPd-c[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXNBho4Hqw4[/embedyt]

Ah apparently the “English Rap Version” from way up above, is from the Japanese version, and is by the original Blackpink.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1aV8IUgP8Q[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ9lcdQeFTw[/embedyt]

Here’s another English cover by Emily Dimes

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRj2KsQVRtk[/embedyt]

Zhazah Chan’s cover is pretty good – her lyrics are different – I like when people write their own lyrics. She only has 700 views. Check it out below.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlr76RAvSrk[/embedyt]

Alright, this is actually pretty amazing LOL. Someone just lowered the pitch of the original vocals… and now it sounds like a boy band, maybe similar to BTS….

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHR2WQVuyec[/embedyt]

Here’s another English cover, her pronunciation is a little hard to understand in some parts.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W69zQqkwXWY[/embedyt]

9. Flogging Molly – Devil’s Dance Floor

Just so you know, I don’t listen to “only” Kpop. I listen to literally everything. No lie. I’ve seen Flogging Molly 3 times live. The first time, my best friend had won 2 free tickets, and originally was going to take her then, at the time, boyfriend, but they broke up before the concert, so she let me go with her instead. I’d never heard of Flogging Molly before then – this was back late 90s/early 2k. I had never really been to a Punk Rock concert… and we had general admission… and the mosh pitt was crazzzzzzzzzzzzy. We tried to stay back against the wall to keep from getting trampled lol. My best friend knew another couple who were going, and the guy took off his shirt and rushed into the mosh pitt while we three girls just kept back lol.

Irish punk rock, is very interesting. … This is my favorite song by Flogging Molly. Check it out below.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPaz0p2dpEk[/embedyt]

10. 2 Less Lonely People In The World Tonight – Cover by Daryl Ong

I’d never heard the original by Air Supply, and just stumbled upon this cover by Daryl Ong. I really love the lyrics… I feel like it describes my relationship so perfectly…. 🙂 And I looked up Kita Kita, and it’s apparently a romantic comedy from the phillipines about a blind woman who has given up on finding love, but of course, falls in love through the movie. I want to watch it now.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEgV8p30kq4[/embedyt]

I went back and listened to the original by Air Supply and I actually prefer Daryl Ong’s version more. What do you think?

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRvrbDVYdAA[/embedyt]

What are you listening to this week? Share a link in our comments section below – Also if you do English Kpop covers, send me a link to your youtube channel, maybe I will feature your video in an upcoming blog post.

What Am I Listening To This Week? Still Not Tired Of Love Songs Or Kpop English Covers Read More »

BTS

What I’m Listening To This Week – Kpop, English Covers, and Other Music

1 Comment / Kdrama, Music Review, Music Videos /

I thought it might be fun to share like a weekly top 10 of songs I’m listening to each week. It can be a new feature on my blog. The music won’t always be new songs, it will be very eclectic.  Here’s what I’m listening to this week. I have been listening to a lot of Kpop, including some awesome amazing English covers from talented amateur youtube performers. Check them out below!

1.) Goblin – OST – Beautiful (Crush)

Ok so Goblin is one of my favorite Kdrama, like in the top 3 for sure. This is the opening song, and there are dozens and dozens of English covers of this song. Someone should make like a US version of this drama, and use one of these covers for the opening song lol. But I know it’d never be as good as the Korean version, but then I could get more of my friends and family to watch this show because it’s so good. Le sigh – lol. I seriously kinda want this song to be like my first dance wedding song. It’s nice and slow, and most of the lyrics until the last verse are appropriate. Even then, the last verse, although it is sad, especially if you’ve ever watched Goblin, even still taking it away completely from the context of Goblin, you could analyze the lyrics to be like either, you need someone when you have a sorrowful day, their love gets you through those days, or well sadly, life is cruel and in the end, you will be parted from those you love, because one of you will pass away first, leaving the other person with only memories, and since it’s the last verse, it could be after a long life together. Thus even though it’s sad, still symbolizes a life full of love and memories together. And the first few verses – depending on whose cover you’re listening to, have lines like “It’s a beautiful life. I’ll be the one to cherish you. Now and forever girl I’ll stand by you.” which definitely could apply to a wedding. And it’s just so beautiful – I tear up every time I hear this song.

So first I want to share with you the original korean version because if it wasn’t for that version we wouldn’t have any of these covers. Here is the original song from the Goblin Kdrama:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0cs6ciCt_k[/embedyt]

Next, I just found this English cover version on youtube when I was searching for the other cover(s) I’d been listening to, and this one has almost 11 million views… His lyrics are different than the covers I’d been listening to this week. He’s very talented. Check it out. This cover is by Daryl Ong. I just subscribed to his Youtube Channel.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUo9WMPmEpE[/embedyt]

And onto the English versions which I’ve been listening to all week. So good.

I started with Eric Nam’s cover here.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx-BBq4LQu0[/embedyt]

Then I discovered this beautiful duet with Eric Nam X Somi which is my favorite cover of this song.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KIyxXrZbdE[/embedyt]

And this very talented young Korean girl. Her English pronunciation is good and her voice is so emotional. Her lyrics are also a little different and I really like it!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogLCIVGc1eg[/embedyt]

And this version by another Asian girl. Her voice is so pure and strong too. Her lyrics are a little bit different, sadder I think.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpZl2FMqG4g[/embedyt]

2. Goblin OST – Stay With Me

So why not another Goblin song to take the number 2 spot. Again let’s start with the original Korean version. The English covers just can’t compare for me, the original one is so much better. I love the girl’s voice, and the guy’s voice is so deep, and they both have so much emotion and great chemistry singing together. Perfection.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcKR0LPwoYs[/embedyt]

And now some English covers, Because it’s always fun to have a version to sing along with:

This girl has that cutesy high pitch mariah carey thing going on.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDGc7Ch1ICk[/embedyt]

This next cover is by Ysabelle Cuevas – I am a fan of a lot of her Kpop covers, especially some BTS covers which I’m going to be sharing shortly. I think she has such a unique voice. Kinda deep and raspy for a girl. She also sings some parts in Korean. I can’t tell if she is Korean with a hispanic name, or half and half, or hispanic, in which case she’d be singing in 2 non-native languages. My favorite cover by her is The Truth Untold. I have listened to it probably 20 times. lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxTVvkgV7LQ[/embedyt]

This version is by Jason Chen. Uhm why is his dog walking on his computer desk? lol. I like this version but it’s only about like 30% English, and the other 70% korean.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUxWN0cDSms[/embedyt]

And this version is so good too, it has a duet and full English rap version too. Also great chemistry and high production values, just like the original! This is probably my favorite of the covers. The lyrics are completely different from any of the other covers. The girl’s voice is so good. She could be a professional singer, seriously.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MU8yN98HWs[/embedyt]

I can’t tell if this is the exact same version as the one above… I think so… It has the rap and the girl’s voice sounds very similar. Which means someone is stealing/plagarizing and since I dunno which one is the real artist’s youtube channel, I’ll just put both of them here and let you decide. This one has many more views and subscribers, so I’m assuming that this is the real version.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLAAYJiGZyI[/embedyt]

And while doing this blog post and seeing what other covers of this song are out there, I found this young man, and it might be my new favorite version of this song (aside from the original of course). Were you as surprised as me when he started singing? I wasn’t expecting such a deep and powerful voice.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9fhiDiIEY[/embedyt]

I don’t know about this next cover. Completely different lyrics. I do like that it’s a duet. And they even tried to recreate the official music video from a visual sense. But I feel like their timing is off or something. Or maybe it just lacks the emotion of some of the others. Something doesn’t “sound” quite as nice in this version. I like the rap parts which very few of the covers have.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaMVDppkzHk[/embedyt]

This girl is not very popular, with only 500 views, but I really like her voice. She claims the song is too high for her, but I think she did a great job.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0UFHPdGVNY[/embedyt]

And another talented young woman also with only 500 views

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTwf4g5zcFU[/embedyt]

And this last one, is not English, but I accidentally stumbled across it. It’s a Tagalong version. She does a great job even though I’ve no clue what the lyrics actually are. She has a beautiful voice.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD9PxhtPQCU[/embedyt]

3. Regular – NCT 127

I discovered this song, and this band, a few weeks ago and can’t stop listening to it. It’s so good! By the way it’s in English so even if you don’t like Kpop, you might like this one!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj-VU9oK2Yo[/embedyt]

4. We Go Up – NCT 127

This one sadly isn’t in English, but it’s still good. Very catchy. I feel like the chorus parts could be a one direction song LOL. These boys are way cuter than 1D though and they’re more edgey – with lots of rap parts.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV1Es22E0RI[/embedyt]

NCT 127 is just so cute. They seem to have a lot of chemistry and a lot of fun together which makes them fun to watch on or off the stage. Here are some more candid interviews. And most of them speak like PERFECT English, without even an accent. These interviews are in English.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54WNkruOIJY[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UErI23gY8[/embedyt]

Cute right? lol. For having just found this band, I’m already a big fan. I hope they do more English versions too in the future!

5. Monster – Henry

I also just discovered this guy. This video is a year old now with over 4 million views. It might be one of my favorite Kpop songs ever. It’s so good. I prefer the English version because obviously I can understand the lyrics and sing along. But the Korean one is good too.

It’s very interesting how different the lyrics are. It completely changes the whole meaning of the song. In the English version the character singing is a good person in love with a person who treats him poorly. Lying to him, leaving him, hurting him, not listening to him, etc. In the Korean version, the character singing is trying to apologize to someone he loves (and who has been loyal to him) for having hurt them (maybe physically? that’s the vibe I get, but it could be emotionally too) and begging her to forgive him and take him back. So it’s completely flipped from the English version.

I have no idea which version is the original one. They are both by Henry, and neither of them are covers. If i had to guess though, I’d say the Korean version was probably first. He has a great voice. The first time I discovered this song I think I played it about 6 times in a single day lol.

Here are both versions of the song below. Which one do you prefer? I love both of them so much!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfeEwt5_jsQ[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ3EVAR5EA4[/embedyt]

6. Play it Cool – Monsta X & Steve Aoki English Version

This song has such a great beat, as to be expected from Steve Aoki. This is the first time I’ve heard of Monsta X, but I love them, they’re all so cute! 🙂 Great dancers and singers too.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7IXKQzmpK4[/embedyt]

7. Waste it On Me – BTS & Steve Aoki

And then since I heard that great Kpop Collab, I had to re-watch Waste it On Me. I remember hearing this song on Sattelite Radio Hits 1 last year, and liking it, but it wasn’t til a few weeks later when I looked up the video that I realized it was BTS and a Kpop song. (kinda one of the sad things that happens to digital radio, you don’t have DJ’s for most of the stations so you don’t hear who the songs are by anymore. – But I also don’t like Talk radio and the commercials and so on, so overall I think Sattelite Radio is amazing. I cancelled my subscription recently which actually is what has led me to exploring more music on my own this week. There are lots of alternatives to get your music, such as spotify, pandora, youtube, amazon music, google music, apple music, the list goes on and on. But I think this was the first ever English Kpop song I’d heard, especially one so popular on American radio stations. The music video is so funny too!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIv16itYi_0[/embedyt]

8. TXT – Cat and Dog

Ok excuse me while I geek out for just a minute…. I literally just now as I type this… just now… discovered there is an English version of this song… It’s not a cover… it’s the real deal. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am freaking out right now. I can’t handle this cuteness!!!!!!!!! I just discovered the original Korean version a week or two ago… and now THIS!!! They just put the English video up 4 weeks ago and it already has almost 7 million views. I am geeking out soooooooooooooooo much. This should actually be number 1 on my list, because it’s that good. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :squeals:

Ok though after watching it… I still have no idea what they’re saying like 30% of the time lol. Maybe it’s too fast and their accents are throwing me off a little. Or maybe some parts of it are still in Korean? lol. Maybe it’s just me? My hearing isn’t that good anyways. I still really like it though 🙂 I came on here just to share the Korean version with ya’all, so I was so shocked to see an English version. Even if I can’t understand a third of what they’re saying lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvO17uPanBY[/embedyt]

Here’s the original Korean version.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaKrke1EL1A[/embedyt]

9. Eyes, Nose, Lips – Taeyang Originally, and Lydia’s Answer, and some covers.

So this one actually has a REALLY interesting story behind it. Taeyang was dating his manager (I don’t know if Lydia is his manager or if she’s just doing an English cover of the manager’s version of this song… but I digress… for the purpose of this blog post, let’s just say they’re one and the same…) Taeyang then cheated on her with another famous Kpop artist. Taeyang regretted his bad decision and wrote this song to try to apologize for his behaivor and hopefully get back together with his manager. His manager then released a cover of his song, which she changed the lyrics, and posted it to youtube and got more views and more positive feedbacks than Taeyang, basically telling him to screw off. Some comments said things like “When the manager sounds better than her band”. And then the song became very popular because of the sad drama/history behind it and spawned a lot of covers, including an English cover by Eric Nam and this really great Korean duet on some show that must be similar to American Idol, like a Korean version, that has even more views than Lydia’s version. All I can say is, the story is crazy, and the song is good. I love all the versions, but I think Lydia’s is my favorite. Check out all the versions below.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjm920Fyo34[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRs_B_O2ZbU[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5IlECpDJ-g[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxMvQkcdPl8[/embedyt]

10. BTS – Truth Untold ft Steve Aoki

I hinted at this song up above when I shared some of Ysabelle’s covers of Goblin’s OST. So I thought it only appropriate to end with this song. It may be the saddest song of all time. First, the original Korean by BTS.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JVytJm8X2g[/embedyt]

And now Ysabelle’s Cover, it’s so good. I love her lyrics and her voice.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugYWg9d_dTE[/embedyt]

There’s also this cover by Emma Hesters. It has a lot more views, I suspect part of the reason why is because she’s a pretty blonde girl. Although she does have a lovely voice too. I just prefer Ysabelle’s version more, but my grandma likes Emma’s voice better and disagree’s with me which one is better. What do you think?

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ycjuNCiyE[/embedyt]

There’s a lot more covers of this song also on Youtube.

This one by Michigopyon doesn’t have nearly as many views, only 20k, but I think her voice is really soft and sweet.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yABzzTg7Krs[/embedyt]

The lyrics to this one are different. Her voice is deep and unusual too.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Nc0D1gJ2c[/embedyt]

Another one with completely different lyrics. I like when people write their own lyrics instead of just using Ysabelle’s lyrics, although Ysabelle’s is still my favorite. It’s neat to hear other people’s works.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakP3Wjy1WA[/embedyt]

I really like Joytastic Sarah’s version and her lyrics that she wrote seem to fit the song super well – She has a lovely voice too.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP-LP75p8rw[/embedyt]

This one by a girl group is interesting… I like the lyrics they wrote. I always wondered why Ysabelle’s version changed sandcastle to “mess of thorns” 3 syllables. Sand Castle is also 3 syllables and closer to the original korean version which uses the korean word for Sandcastle. I also also thought (and sing when I sing along) that the line after “Don’t smile at me” should be “Lie to me” instead of light on me – although light on me is the same as the korean version, but Lie to me just sounds better in English – even though its in English in the korean version too. Anyways this is a great cover 🙂 Props to these ladies.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOQIAj3JNP4[/embedyt]

And some more covers:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lAQGxggS-8[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t68_PCzfUPI[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn42tke_tQ[/embedyt]

Men are even getting in on covering this one –

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7alGNQQJS8[/embedyt]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hJZQE27DSI[/embedyt]

I did not know the story behind this song. I had never heard of this Italian story. Recently also a map has been discovered, and it was at one time a real city. La Cita De Smeraldo. It may be the true story that led to fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast. There was a duke who fell in love with a gardener’s daughter, and bore a child out of wedlock. Because he was born out of wedlock, the duke sent the child to a far away place. The child was also rumored t

o be extremely ugly, and wore a mask at all times and locked himself away in his castle. One day a girl breaks into his garden and steals a flower. He is very angry and so he wears a disguise and follows the girl and discovers that she is very poor and stealing flowers to sell in her village in order to survive. He immediately feels bad for the girl, and he again locks himself away in his castle in order to research new flowers that will sell for a higher price that he plans to give to the girl. But the girl never returns to his garden. After some time, the boy returns to the village and discovers that the girl has died. He feels regret for never telling her his true feelings, but because he was ugly, he felt that the girl could not accept him as a man. He returned to his castle where he died alone. A very sad, and apparently true story. read more

What I’m Listening To This Week – Kpop, English Covers, and Other Music Read More »

Design Home

Game Review: Design Home vs Home Design Makeover – 2 Similar Apps With Similar Names – Which Home Decorating Game Is Better?

Casual Game, Game Review, Gaming, Home Decor, Mobile Game, Review /

I recently began playing both Home Design and Design Home Makeover. 2 Android mobile games that allow you to decorate your own homes.

Home Design Makeover is available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.loop.hdmakeover&hl=en_US

Design Home is available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crowdstar.covetHome&hl=en_US

Both are free games with optional in-game purchases.

First, Home Design is by Storm8 Studios. They have an upcoming Property Brothers game coming soon too. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.storm8.propertybrothers

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzM7KPsXkW4[/embedyt]

Storm8 Studios also has a lot of other kawaii games including Bakery Story and Dragon Story. Check em out.

Home Design Makeover is a Match 3 game, similar to Homescapes, Gardenscapes, etc. Yes, you do have some options in how to design the home, but not nearly as much flexibility as Design Home.

Design Home is by Crowdstar Inc. They have only one other game, a popular dressup game called Covet Fashion. I have played Covet Fashion for a long time. Design Home plays almost the same as Covet Fashion but the concept is to decorate your room instead of dressup your model.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJjyORH4C-o[/embedyt]

The concept is similar, you enter timed events and can borrow from your friends’ inventories, or use currently owned items, or purchase furnishing for gems or dollars in game currency. You can also vote on various events to earn more event tickets (called keys in Design home). And like Covet Fashion, the items are from real-world brands and have links to purchase or view the real-world equivalent of the item outside of the app as well.

The thing I love about Design Home is how much flexibility it has. You don’t just pick from 1 of 3 couches or 1 of 3 wallpapers, but hundreds of different items and there are many many items in each room, tables, chairs, accessories, wall decor, etc. This makes your design truly unique and much more exciting and creative than the match 3 system in games like Home Design Makeover or Homescapes.

In the end, I prefer Design Home, it’s more creative and enjoyable. But Home Design Makeover is fun especially if you are a fan of similar Match 3 games. Check them both out and leave a comment below for which game you prefer.

Game Review: Design Home vs Home Design Makeover – 2 Similar Apps With Similar Names – Which Home Decorating Game Is Better? Read More »