Infinite: Second Invasion Evolution 2012 Infinite Concert/3D Movie DVD Review

Just 1.5 months after Infinite's first solo concert, the band held an encore concert entitled Second Invasion Evolution in April 2012. Later on, Woollim took footage from this concert, as well as behind the scenes footage, and created a 3D movie that ran in theaters in Korea.  As for this concert's DVD set, Woollim released a Korean normal edition and a limited edition, as well as other countries' versions.  The normal edition is only of the concert while the limited version includes the concert and the concert movie.  Here I'll review the limited edition: Second Invasion Evolution 2012 Infinite Concert/3D Movie.

This boxed set is 8" x 6" x 2.25", just about one centimeter longer and taller than Infinite's album dimensions. The box is made of thick, textured cardboard with gold accents and font color. The lid has a one millimeter cutout of the Second Invasion infinite symbol, with raised gold markings.  This lid fits very tightly, which is very nice (unlike K.Will's fourth mini album that keeps slipping).  The first time I opened this set, it took a very long time because it was so tight!

The sides of the lid are just as classy as the top. The long side has the official name of this DVD set while the short ends have the era's infinite symbol and "INFINITE EVOLUTION."

The back has a lot of important information, as well as the holographic seal.  Included is the tracklist of the two DVDs and the bluray disc. The bottom explains the region code and subtitles for each disc, which I'll cover later.

The inside design of the lid and box is a horizontal striped pattern. The box also has the era's symbol and a white ribbon to easily life up the contents of the box.

The lid, as well as the cover of the three items inside the box, all have the same music box-like design created by a gloss layer.

This set includes, from top to bottom, the Second Invasion Evolution concert movie disc, the concert disc, and lastly the photobook.

2012 Concert 3D Movie Second Invasion Evolution

The naming convention on all these discs is really confusing.  So basically, this blue container is for the bluray disc.  The top left image shows how the contents of this set are very snug inside the white box.  You can also see the ribbon peaking out from the right, making it easier to take out the contents.  The top right image has the tracklist of this disc. The bottom photo illustrates the postcards on the left and the disc on the right. This bluray disc is of the 3D movie that Woollim released in theaters. To watch in 3D, you need a 3D TV and 3D bluray player. If you just have a bluray player, the disc will automatically start playing in 2D.  If you have all the 3D equipment, you still have the option to watch in 2D. This bluray disc is for all regions, has subtitles in English, Korean and Japanese and is 105 minutes long. While the English subtitles are decent, Woollim's Engrish came into play by displaying "Second Invation Evolution" on the main menu screen.

Opposite of the disc is a set of eight perforated photocards.  There are seven individual member cards with their printed autographs and an eighth group photo.  The backside of each card lists the name of this boxed set and the members' names, very similar to the photobook cover of the Paradise album.  In this photo, from left to right, you can see the backside of the card, Sungjong's card and a bit of the group one.

Here is the tracklist of the 3D movie, which does differ from the actual concert DVD tracklist.  Some songs have been taken out and they aren't  shown in the same order as the concert.  To maximize the 3D effect, each song is displayed with a fancy illustration (you just have to see it to understand).  This movie version does include some cool features, such as a beginning scene that introduces the 3D aspect of the movie, as well as hilarious Infinite audition scenes that hint at the members' solo stages.  There are also three "Making Film" parts sprawled throughout the movie, showing behind the scenes of the solo stages, as well as impromptu interviews made exclusively for this movie.

2012 Infinite Concert Second Invasion Evolution

This white container holds two DVDs.  These discs are for regions 1 and 3 and have subtitles in English, Korean and traditional Chinese.  The English subtitles are pretty decent. The total duration of both discs is 172 minutes.  This container is a tri-fold; the first opening reveals the white disc on the left and the names of each member on the right.  Open it up again to reveal the second, brown disc on the right.

The backside reveals the tracklists for both discs.  The first disc contains the entire concert. Here I'll give my thoughts on the concert in general.  There is only an intro VCR, and the rest is purely the concert. Though this is an encore concert, all aspects were completely different and refreshing.  From the beginning of the concert, there was so much intensity and power; Woollim and Infinite definitely put their all into making a spectacular performance. My favorite group performances were "Shot," because this seems to be the only time that this song is performed live, and "Can You Smile," because they performed the original version with a chair dance!  And here I thought "Inception" was Infinite's only chair dance...To be honestly, I was very hesitant in buying this concert set because of a couple of the solo stages. I have a very innocent mind and am very conservative, so Hoya's performance was traumatizing for me. This same reaction occurred for Sungjong's as well. Dongwoo performed "Because," Sunggyu's solo, which also upset me because it forces me to compare Dongwoo to Sunggyu, and Sunggyu owned his own performance of "Because" during the previous concert that it was hard for me to see Dongwoo try to live up to that. On the other hand, Sungyeol's performance of "Sexy Back" was oddly enlightening. I absolutely loved Sunggyu's "Only Tears;" despite being a ballad, he owned the stage and gave a very moving performance. And now, my two most favorite solo stages by far: Woohyun's rendition of "Couple" and L's "Dating You!" Woohyun showcased his greasiness by prerecording a selca video of him and Sungyeol (which has only just recently been uploaded onto YouTube), then he took that camera and rode and filmed himself singing his performance while on a forklift-like thing in the middle of the stage, hovering over the audience. In the end, he gave a lucky fan the camera! It's Woohyun's amazing fanservice that appears during his solo stages that makes him my bias list wrecker. And lastly, L's solo. His performance is so bubbly and cute! L even offers a fan his bouquet and proposes to date all the Inspirits. Sunggyu even raps in this stage, which I love! As a dedicated eLement, it was this solo performance that finally made me buy this concert DVD!

The second disc contains the special features. Included are "Multi Angle-Member Direct Cam" for "Shot" and "1/3," which is basically a high quality fancam of each member for these two stages.  This feature is really cool to see the different moves each member has.  The next feature is my favorite: Infinite's parody of Shut Up Flower Boy Band!  Since this is the drama that brought me into the Inspirit world, I hold this parody very dear to me.  They split up Infinite into the two rival bands and one group performs "Be Mine" while the other performs "Come Back Again," giving a spin on Infinite's classic songs.  Lastly, there is also the 24 minute long "Concert Making Film," which includes clips of the 3D movie's "Making Film," as well as impromptu interviews with the member (some topics include Sunggyu's obsession for supplements that began from Sesame Player and Myungsoo's ideal woman). This feature also covers rehearsals, the concert itself, and the members backstage, in between stages.

Photobook

This 80 page photobook is very cohesive and beautiful.  The back is the table of contents, listing the various sections in the book: "Evolution," "The Infinite," "Making," "Thanks Inspirits," and "The Movie 3D, 2012."

The first section (top image), "Evolution," is the concert, which has several pages of Infinite singing and dancing as a group. The next section (bottom image), "The Infinite," offers four pages of close ups for each member.

Following is "Making," which include photos of Infinite during their interviews and rehearsing on stage (top image). Next is "Thanks Inspirit," a section dedicated to Inspirits (middle image), showing fans lining up at and cheering inside the venue. Lastly, there is a section entitled "The Movie 3D, 2012," which are all photos of Infinite filming their audition segment (bottom image).

Overall, this was the best splurge I have made. While this concert DVD is pretty rare now (I found this new one on eBay for $165), there are still a few sellers with this item! Though there are so many versions of this concert (Second Invasion and Second Invasion Evolution Plus), Second Invasion Evolution certainly has its own charms. Also the next best thing to seeing Infinite live is to see them in 3D, so this set has just become my most favorite concert set.