Update: Kinokuniya Bookstore in Seattle

Today I revisited Kinokuniya Bookstore in Seattle's Chinatown.  Last month I made a post about it here.  As usual, I checked the magazine section and the selection was typical.  Then I stepped upstairs to the CD section and there is now a more varied collection of Jpop albums by Korean artists!  Before Kinokuniya mainly had the SM powerhouses, like Super Junior, SHINee, Girls' Generation, and other Kpop groups and singers that have prominence in Japan, such as FTIsland, Kara and Kim Hyun Joong.

A printed sign saying 'K-POP' really caught my attention.  They have basically doubled their Korean Jpop collection with more groups, including Boyfriend, Big Bang, F.Cuz, Secret, and generally a larger selection of the previous artists they carried.

Here is a close up of the additional 'K-POP' section.  It's just these small shelves, but the selection is much greater.

And here is the original shelf that contained new Jpop releases, including the minimal Korean Jpop selection Kinokuniya had before.  Here, I only spotted SHINee and Super Junior.

Once I locked eyes on this album, I couldn't take my hands off of it.  I was looking at Infinite's Koi Ni Ochiru Toki normal edition album!

There was only this one copy and I'm such a huge Inspirit...but because I'm planning on getting the limited version, I resisted my urge and didn't buy the normal edition (though I really want the photocard...).  Also, this album is $42 while the limited edition is also $42 online.  All in all, Kinokuniya has a larger selection of CDs but their prices are still ridiculously high. It's a great feeling to select albums in person rather than online, but pricing is also a factor in making a purchase. 

Infinite: She's Back (Limited Edition) Single Album Review

I ordered the limited edition of Infinite's She's Back Japanese single from "japanese high quality shop Your favorite commodity will always be found.," an individual seller from Amazon.com for just under $50.  It took about 4 business days to ship and arrived exactly 2 weeks after it had shipped despite estimated arrival time being 3.5 to 6.5 weeks.  While I'm satisfied about the early delivery, I'm so disappointed in the packaging.  My package arrived looking like it had been used as a football, creased and bent on all sides.

Inside, my album took up half of the box while the other half was lightly stuffed with one piece of newspaper, and that's it.  My album ended up with one squished exterior corner and three completely torn corners.  Everything I order is so precious to me, especially because this is worth $50, I really wanted a pristine copy.  I was so excited for my beloved package to arrive, but seeing the damage really dampened my mood while opening it.

While I'm disappointed in the way my package came, the overall design of She's Back is gorgeous.  The exterior has a white gloss finish with sequined blue and matte silver accents.  The cover is very simplistic yet the blue and silver make such an impact.  There is sadly no authentication sticker.

The album arrived in a clear plastic wrap with a  blue sticker listing the tracklist for both the CD and DVD, along with the original price.

The packaging is very similar to that of Infinite's Second Invasion concert DVD, except that She's Back is slightly smaller in width.  The front flap closes with two sturdy magnets at each end.

Inside, from top to bottom, is the beautiful A4 sized photocard (face down), some sticker with Japanese writing, the amazing photobook and lastly the CD and DVD at the bottom.  There is a satin ribbon underneath the photobook for you to easily take out all of the contents.

The photocard is of high quality and has a glossy finish on the back, matte finish on the front.  There are a total of 7 versions, each of a member having fun on the beach and includes a photocopied message written in Japanese and the member's autograph.  All of the members looked like they are having so much fun in their photos!  At first I was sad that I had received Woohyun's (his smile seems so different here), but I think I was only upset because of how awful the condition of my package was.  Even the top corners of my photocard are crinkled.  But thinking it over, I'm happy to have Woohyun's, especially because this is my first Woohyun photocard.

Here is a close up of the Japanese sticker, in case anyone was curious. Included is a web address, but when I tried to access the site, it says "page not found."

This photobook is absolutely gorgeous and is the absolute reason why anyone would pay much more for the limited edition.  It is super thick and is 180 full color pages of Infinite being Infinite.

This is kind of like a family summer vacation photo album, only better because it's of Infinite.  There are lots of photos of Infinite doing random things, and in between are two sets of individual profiles.

The first set (refer to the top image) has the member's name, position, birthdate and blood type, and includes the photocard image as well (which is why I'm not too upset for not getting another member's photocard).  The second set (refer to the bottom image) just includes the member's name and photos from the nature green photoshoot.

Towards the back are the lyrics to the songs.  It looks so cool seeing Infinite's lyrics published in such a big book.

My most favorite section of this photobook is at the back. Dongwoo, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungyeol and L took their own photos and each member has two pages of their own shots.  The bottom image shows L's spread.

Both discs are at the bottom of the packaging.  They are embedded into the bottom of the box with a foam wedge in the center.  The discs are safe and well stored because there is about one millimeter of space between the discs and the top of the blue surface where the photobook rests.  This single comes with three songs: the Japanese versions of "She's Back" and "Come Back Again" and a remix of the Korean "She's Back."  The remix isn't too different from the original but it does offer a new, yet still upbeat and fun vibe to it.  I love both the original and remix versions.  Below is the tracklist for both the CD and DVD, found on the first page of the photobook.

The DVD includes the promotional teaser and official music video of She's Back, along with the making of this album that is about 30 minutes long.  There are Japanese subtitles you can turn on or off. For the making of, there are Korean subtitles along with the name of the member speaking.  Despite not being able to understand Korean nor read Japanese, I still really enjoyed this DVD.  I was able to see Infinite as regular, everyday people in their street clothes, checking in at a hotel, having a ridiculous amount of fun on the beach...I almost felt a part of their fun.  The DVD also showed Infinite shooting their magical music video and photoshoot.

Overall, this limited edition album is a beautiful addition to any Inspirit's collection. But if you're only a fan of the music, I suggest buying the normal edition that just comes with a photobooklet.  

My Mini KR Multimedia Haul!

A few weeks ago I visited KR Multimedia, a tiny kpop shop with a huge selection of merchandise, located just outside of Vancouver, BC. You can read my review about this shop here.  I didn't buy much, but I was able to find, in my opinion, rare items.

I bought two items for myself.  The first one is an official poster of IU and Infinite for Elite school uniforms.  I am such a fan of both that to see this collaboration, it was a no brainer to buy this!  I've never personally seen an Infinite endorsement poster.  This poster is priced at $16 (Canadian), which is a few dollars more expensive than KR Multimedia's other posters, but there is a 20% discount off posters when buying official albums.  This poster is folded accordion style and comes with a nice slip to hold it together.  The dimensions are about 24 inches by 16 inches.

One side is of IU showing off her cute innocence while modeling several cheery school uniforms.  Included is a copy of her autograph and a QR scan that takes you to a minute long YouTube video of IU speaking at an informal Elite interview.

The other side is of Infinite in neutralized school uniforms and showing aegyo.  Each panel consists of one member, a copy of his autograph and a QR scan like of IU.  I love this poster 1) because of how adorable everyone looks, 2) because it's like a documentation of everyone's signatures (especially Sungyeol's before he changed his to the 3-sectioned style) and 3) because this is an official poster that's not commonly found of Infinite!

Here's my poster all framed up!  It's sitting beside my desk so I can easily get distracted and daydream about having Infinite as classmates.

My second item was a pig rabbit bag from the drama You're Beautiful that is roughly 16 inches tall.  This unstuffed animal is very plush and has bendable wires inside the ears for shape.  The strap is just one long strap coming from the sides of the head, so it's meant as a crossbody bag.  The head, arms and legs are fully stuffed while the stomach is empty and lined and has a zipper in the back to store little items.  I'll probably just stuff some blankets in the stomach to make for a stuffed animal rather than a bag.

Overall I'm so thrilled to have found about KR Multimedia and I'm very happy about my purchase.  A poster of adorable Infinite in school uniforms is an amazing addition to my poster collection.  If only I could display both IU and Infinite, but of course Infinite wins.  Also pig rabbit has so much significance to me as You're Beautiful is the drama that started 'My Seoul Obsession' and the only pig rabbit I found was for ridiculous prices online.  I'll definitely head to KR Multimedia again for more interesting and unique finds!

Burnaby: KR Multimedia Kpop Store

KR Multimedia is a kpop store located in Crystal Mall in Burnaby, a city neighboring Richmond and Vancouver.  This is the only store I have found in the Pacific Northwest that carries official kpop merchandise.  While the shop itself is quite small, it is completely packed with so many kpop goods!  This will be a picture-heavy post, but I was so excited while taking these photos that most of them are blurry.

The storefront of KR Multimedia is already eye catching, with kpop merchandise sprawled throughout the window display.  Inside was playing Coffee Shop (CNBlue), One Shot, Man in Love and Dream Girl; playing these hits hypnotized me in a kpop shopping spree!

On one wall is a display of kpop albums.  There is typically only one copy of each album they have, and maybe one or two albums per artist.  I forgot to check for prices, but they seem reasonable as I bought Infinite's Evolution album for my friend here and that was $17 (Canadian currency).  Also if you purchase an official album, you get 20% off one poster, which is a nice bonus!

The opposite wall has many posters neatly displayed in swinging frames.  The top row carries mostly official album posters while the bottom row has unofficial posters and endorsement posters.  Posters cost roughly $10 to $16, regular price.  Just tell the worker which poster you want and they'll pull it up from behind the counter.

There are locked displays filled with lots of merchandise.  On one display (the top left cubby) there are pig rabbits from the drama You're Beautiful, along with Korean beauty products from SkinFood, Tony Moly and more. 

The unofficial merchandise is quite pricey.  I saw a set of 7 mini clothes pins with Infinite on top, and that was $7.  I bought my friend a set of 6 1 cm diameter BAP circle stickers that cost $4.  A deck of playing cards costs $10, etc.  Other unofficial merchandise include keychains, rings, bracelets, notepads, pencil bags, cups, backpacks, even nail clippers...the list goes on.  The cups in the bottom right are of Jang Geun Suk and Kim Soo Hyun for some endorsements.  There are also many unofficial scrolls hanging above.

In one display there were also Infinite concert goods!  There was a set of pins from Second Invasion Evolution for $23, a slogan towel for around $33 and a clear file set apparently from all of the Infinite eras.

The workers are also very friendly and knowledgeable.  I asked one worker if they carried Reply 1997, and she knew exactly what I was talking about and explained their preordering system to me because they didn't have this product.  She said that you can put a down payment and they can preorder an item and it can come in the next shipment which arrives in one week.  You can preorder albums, magazines, concert goods and more.  Behind the cashier counter was a shelf of preorders.  I had my eye on that Infinite magazine...I've never seen that blue cover and want it so badly now!

KR Multimedia does their marketing on their Facebook page.  They post new shipments, preorder options and post about hosting events to trade photocards.  I love the kpop community that this shop holds!

Overall, I absolutely love this shop!  They have the latest releases (newly released albums come within a week it seems), reasonable prices and very friendly and knowledgeable workers.  I can't wait to stop by KR Multimedia again for my kpop fix!  Also I'll post my mini haul from KR Multimedia soon, so stay tuned.

Infinite H: Fly High 1st Mini Album Review

While hip hop isn't my style at all, I've had a lot of respect for Infinite H lately.  Dongwoo and Hoya are both very talented singers, rappers and dancers and they write their own raps for Infinite songs. Now that they've written an entire song, 'MAMAMA' for labelmates Tasty, I've gained even more respect for Infinite H.  I bought this album to show my support for their work (and for the paint lab photobook!).

I ordered Fly High at a steal; in total my album cost $12.60 on i-Deals, an individual seller on Amazon.com with their warehouse located in Kentucky.  The price for this album fluctuates around $15, so I had to order mine quickly because it's rare to go so low!  After my purchase, this seller removed its listing because I had bought the last copy.  As I had hoped, my package shipped the day after placing the order and arrived 5 days after ordering. It arrived in a cardboard envelope, safe and secured.  I'm quite happy with the speedy delivery and packaging.

Because I rarely listen to hip hop and haven't been really exposed to the genre, I won't review the songs.  So I guess I should call this post an unboxing rather than a review...anyways, instead I'll focus only on the physical contents of the album.  The album cover is mainly purple, with neon paint splatter and a holographic 'h' written in Gothic font.  The back is a simple bright orange along with the 'h' and technical information.

Looking at the front cover, the contents come out of the left.  On top is the photobook, and underneath is the CD portion.

The CD part is a simple cardboard folder that contains two photocards and two stickers.

The top piece is Infinite H's logo in bright purple and neon green, both of which are stickers.  Each album consists of two random photocards.  In total, there are five different Dongwoo cards and five different Hoya cards, and one card design from each member is special because it has a gold holographic 'h' on the backside.  Unfortunately I didn't receive a special card.  Each photocard presents the member's birthdate, height, bloodtype and position.  These cards are made of stronger material than other Infinite photocards, and have a nice waxy finish.  The backside of the stickers and photocards have the paint splatter pattern.

The CD itself has a simple design.  It's solid black with 'Infinite h' written in the Gothic pattern.

The photobook is a very interesting concept.  It is split in half, with one side including photos and lyrics and the other side being a 'painting lab' photoshoot.

The first portion contains photos of Dongwoo and Hoya in their bold outfits with tough guy expressions.  There are also photos of Dongwoo and Hoya playing around with each other, loosening up the intense atmosphere, like the pages in the top photo.  I love how Dongwoo's hair has imprints of the Batman logo and kiss mark.  Throughout these pages, the lyrics are greatly displayed like they're meant to be read, whereas Infinite's albums always display the lyrics in as few pages as possible so it's difficult to see.

I love the 'painting lab' pages; the idea is so creative and it's fun to see the complete artistic process!  There are a total of 9 scenes, starting with Dongwoo and Hoya looking sharp in pristine white suits in an enclosed purple room.  As you progress through the pages, colorful paint splatter is continually added, making for a fun and messy outlook.  My most favorite pages are in the bottom photo, because it looks like they're pinning corsages on each other!

While I won't review the songs, here's the tracklist (and part of Hoya's hair) from the photobook.

Again, I bought this album to support Infinite H, to better my Infinite collection and for the painting lab section of the photobook.  I'm glad I bought this album at such an amazing price because it comes with great songs and quality extras (photocards, stickers and photobook).  Though I'm not a hip hop fan, I definitely enjoy all of these songs!

Update: Kpoptown Jewelry Review

A few months ago I ordered an unofficial Infinite zipper bracelet from Kpoptown but gave a disappointing review (here's the link) on the product because I couldn't unclasp the bracelet.  I had no idea how to detach the clasp of this bracelet until my friend showed me. You're supposed to use your fingernail to push down on the plastic knob and it should come out easily. My friend thinks just the first time was difficult because it was jammed, but now I can flawlessly open and close it in seconds.  To fasten the bracelet, simply lock them together like a seat belt.

Here is the bracelet fitting perfectly around my wrist!  Now that I've actually figured out how this bracelet works, I'm so glad to have purchased it and now I can physically show my support during Infinite's upcoming world concert tour by wearing this bracelet and adding to the ocean of gold!

Kim Sung Kyu: Another Me 1st Mini Album Review

In November 2012, leader Kim Sunggyu was the first member of Infinite to pursue activities outside of the group.  He had always aspired to be a rock singer like he had in high school and like his idol, rock band and labelmate Nell.  I'm so glad Sunggyu was able to release a solo album for him to focus on his love for rock music and away from the pop music of Infinite.

I ordered my Another Me album from Kpoptown.com and I was so satisfied with the delivery for this package.  It shipped just after 24 hours of ordering it and arrived exactly 7 days later!  Usually my Kpoptown packages arrive after at least 2 weeks, but it's as if they sensed just how excited I was to receive this particular album.

The album comes in an enclosed black plastic bag.  I think the reason there is this additional packaging is because there are 690 limited edition copies that have a different album cover, as well as Sunggyu's autograph inside.  The front of the bag has Sunggyu's album name in gloss black, so it's a bit hard to see.  The back of the bag includes technical information and the seal of authentication.  At the top of the bag is a little slit (as seen in the top right photo) for you to rip open, but I just used scissors since this bag is so precious!

I was disappointed with the handling of my album, however.  While many people complain that their albums delivered from Kpoptown come in horrible condition, I've never had that problem until now.  At the white corner, you can see it has been bent inward.  At the top (in the middle of Sunggyu's hair) you can also see areas where the edge has been dented.

The album cover is a minimalistic close up of Sunggyu in profile view.  He appears more mature and sophisticated with his calm and silent pose.  I'm surprised that the photo even reveals a bit of stubble around his sideburns, showing more manly charm.  The front and back covers have Sunggyu's name and album title written in artistic font.  While this abstract font matches the artistic appeal of the album concept, honestly it's rather hard to read.  

Like Infinite's albums, this album has a high quality photobook on the left and the CD on the right.  Sunggyu's logo is plastered on both of these, further emphasizing the artistic style.

The photobook has 30 pages filled with Sunggyu, lyrics and a 'thanks to' page.  In all of these photos, Sunggyu has the same solemn expression with a white background.  Each photo has such a hipster and artsy feel, especially the photos above.  They focus more on this refined and matured image of Sunggyu, which matches the album's concept perfectly.

Included in every copy are two clear stickers with Sunggyu's logo.  The stickers I received are in multicolored blue/gray and vibrant and solid pink.  There are several variations with other multicolored fonts.  The backside of the stickers is the same image of Sunggyu.  I'm not sure if Woollim is showcasing the sticker or Sunggyu's image, but this sticker idea just makes it look like we're supposed to discard Sunggyu's face.  The center photo illustrates the size of the sticker-like photocards in comparison to the album.

Here is the tracklist printed on the inside of the photobook, along with my thoughts on each track:

1. 'Another Me' is a very classy introduction track to the album, setting the tone to the genre of music this album covers.  This song is just over a minute long of Sunggyu playing a soothing piano piece with vocals.
2. '60 Seconds' is the main track for Another Me.  First off, the music video is stunning.  The storyline is so complex and moving.  While I am Myungsoo biased, I still believe this video is amazing in every way; it's almost like a drama crammed into 4 minutes.  The song itself is just as beautiful.  While Infinite's version is highly favorable in general, this song suits Sunggyu so well.  I like the version more, especially the bridge, which was removed for the rapping in the Infinite version.  The lyrics are also deep and complex, and step away from Infinite's lyrics of desperately wanting an ex-girlfriend.
3. 'I Need You' is another promoted track that is accompanied by a simple, yet sophisticated, music video that focuses on Sunggyu singing passionately.  This song, as well as '41 Days,' was composed by a member of Nell.  The song stays within the same octave throughout and remains very calm, with a relaxing background beat.  The lyrics are very beautiful and meaningful, expressing how Sunggyu is emotionally hurt and needs you to comfort and heal him.
4. 'Only Tears' is the acoustic version of Infinite's ballad from the Infinitize album.  Sadly this is the one Infinite song that I disregard, but Sunggyu's acoustic version does make this song much more pleasurable.  As an acoustic ballad sung by one person, this song is much more meaningful and deep; I can sense Sunggyu's emotions through his powerful vocals.
5. 'Shine' is by far my most favorite track and has truly shown me another, more mature side of Sunggyu.  This song was composed for Sunggyu by another member of Nell, which must bare much significance for Sunggyu.  'Shine' is so distinct and has such a unique sound.  I especially love the falsetto in the chorus, which was what led me to buy this album.  I'm always so impressed when guys are able to sing falsetto, and Sunggyu has impressed me tremendously with this one track.
6. '41 Days' is another calm and soothing song.  The lyrics offer imagery and complex emotions about how one's romantic relationship may seem intertwined but not always.  This song, along with 'I Need You' and 'Shine' sound so mature and have a similar soft rock sound that shown me another side of Sunggyu of which I can't get enough!
7. There is a hidden track!  I was very pleasantly surprised to have found out.  This is shortened, acoustic version to the title song '60 Seconds' and starts around the one minute mark.  It is a beautiful rendition that really showcases Sunggyu's outstanding and emotional vocals.

Overall, I can't get over how spectacular this album is; each and every song is just as strong.  I've always casually enjoyed listening to Sunggyu's voice as a part of Infinite, but I have never been so awestruck with his singing ability after listening to this album.  Every song fits Sunggyu's vocal strengths very well.  All of the songs on on this CD are very different from Infinite's sound, showing a very mature side to Sunggyu.  Honestly after listening to these songs, I was almost embarrassed to listen to Infinite.  As an inspirit this sounds bad, so let me explain myself: Sunggyu's songs focus solely on his vocals and talent that sound timeless, while Infinite's songs fall into mainstream Kpop with tracks that become just a fad due to being hook songs.  I'm so happy that Sunggyu has been able to pursue his dream with Another Me, and hopefully he'll have another album soon!