Roundtable Review: BEAST's "Fiction" and After School's "Shampoo"

Welcome to our first roundtable review, where several Soompi writers give their opinions on some of the latest music videos!  Here, we cover BEAST’s “Fiction” and After School’s “Shampoo”.

BEAST “Fiction”

melkimx: This is officially my new favorite BEAST song and I love it, but I have one minor quibble, which is that the pencil scratching sounds in the beginning and end drive me crazy.  It’s always been a sound that sets my teeth on edge, so I could have done without it here.  I loved Park Bo Young in “Speed Scandal”, so I was excited to see her here, but compared to how awesome the song is, the MV is just okay. It kind of reminded me of that old computer game, Myst, with the old books and all the kind of haunted-looking, otherworldly settings. 

thunderstix: Excellent chemistry between Park Bo Young and Yong Joon Hyung. Strange storyline but better-than-average special effects present an interesting viewing experience.

jbarky: I think thunderstix is wrong, the storyline isn’t strange at all! The plot fits in perfectly with the song lyrics and I really enjoyed the special effects that were great!

cherryspirit: It was a pleasant surprise to see Park Bo Young in the MV! She was so lovely and cute in the MV. Overall the MV wasn’t that impressive, didn’t really catch my attention. It just seemed like there were too many scenes shot at all of these random locations and later dumped into the MV in a disorganized way. It seems like they were trying to show too much in the MV. Personally, I think they could’ve done a better job at editing and polishing the scenes and also at accentuating the looks and charms of the B2ST members. And I agree with melkimx, I just couldn’t stand the pen scratching sound at the beginning and end of the MV.

After School “Shampoo”

jbarky: The girls are always beautiful, but it took me awhile to understand the plot. Now that I kind of get it (a story about the instructor having a relationship, and him being fired afterwards?), I don’t think it really connects with the lyrics behind “Shampoo” at all.

thunderstix: Cute song, enjoyable MV. Not sure about the plot but the girls look quite charming. Wonder how things unfold in the sequel.

cherryspirit: Although I find the lyrics of song just ridiculous, the MV was overall not that bad. The members seemed beautiful in it and the scene where the girl practices dancing with the dance instructor was cute. And the dating scene was visually pleasing and lovely with all the beautiful pink cherry blossom trees in the background. But yeah, I found the plot quite strange.

melkimx: This is what I got out of the plot: A new trainee shows up for her first day with a girl group who’s famous throughout Korea for their sexy and sophisticated image.  Naturally, she shows up wearing an outfit and hairstyle that makes her look like she’s ten years old.  She promptly gets into a relationship with the dance instructor, and he steps down because obviously one of them has to, and this makes her really sad.  Also, her hair is now platinum blonde, but no one seems to notice.

I probably completely misunderstood, but it’s what I got out of it.  In case you couldn’t tell, this is officially my least favorite After School MV.  The song itself isn’t bad, but the lyrics are kind of creepy.

(The opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Soompi news team.)