Unboxing #10 - JeA's Just JeA

Whew, it's certainly getting quite hot isn't it...at least it was when I started this post...^^"

Finally, the resident leader and powerhouse of Brown Eyed Girls, JeA, makes her long-awaited foray as a solo artist.  Well, to be precise, prior to this mini-album, she HAS released a track apart from her group (aside from her contribution to various soundtracks)...but this time around we get a physical release and proper promotion.  Yay!

Just JeA was released on January 4th, 2013.  Here's a quick tracklist.  As always, if there is an official video for a song, I will link it!  I believe there are two of them this time around.

1. Days & Nights ft. Eric Benét
2. 길고양이, (Street Cat)
3. 그대가 잠든 사이, (While You're Sleeping)
4. 안아보자, (Let's Hug) ft. 정엽 (Jung Yeob) of Brown Eyed Soul
5. Silent Stalker ft. Double K

Now onto the visuals!

\o/

Bubble wrapppp.

JeA, looking gorgeous.

Side panel.

Topmost view.

In which the CD makes the back cover its home.

Unobstructed view of the CD.

Back cover and another track list.

I love the visual concept JeA was going for.  I believe she stated that she wanted the packaging to be reminiscent of a personal diary/scrapbook/book.  I think the execution of that idea was spot on.  There's even a table of contents-like page included in the first few pages.  She has a few pages dedicated to every song on the album and an intro and an outro.  I think it's absolutely adorable that the font has a handwritten look and that there are a bunch of doodles and underlines and little side notes written in and around the main texts and pictures of each page.

After the intro and the pages about the songs, she dedicates two pages for each member of the Brown Eyed Girls.  So very sweet.  Now all I need is a translator to explain to me what it is that she wrote exactly... Anywho, after the pages about the members, comes the lyrics, outro, and the credits.  That's a total of 48 numbered pages, not including the "dedication page" (which is the first page that lists the distributors and the copyrights) and the credit page (the last page).

I like the attention to detail on the packaging.  The dedication page and the credit page have a typical book-like type paper.  You know, the not exactly smooth texture, thin paper, etc.  The rest of the album's pages are of a cardstock-type of material: very smooth, sort of thick, and so on.  This is just something I found super interesting.

Okay, enough about the pages.  The album itself is very sturdy (\o/).  Heh.  That looks like an angel or something with the parenthesis instead of a person raising their arms.  Er, anyways, yes.  Very sturdy.  Definitely appreciate that as I like the keep the corners sharp and pointy!  The booklet is fused into the binding, much like how a book and its pages are.  So...take what you will from that.  The texture of the album is also interesting.  It has almost a woven quality, if you noticed from the pictures above.  Be careful of getting any scratches on the album because they will show.

One bone to pick though...I'm not a huge fan of the CD just being slipped into the sleeve in the back cover.  Although if you are gentle with your albums and don't shift them around and turn them upside down often, you should be fine.  It's just a personal preference. *shrugs*

As for the music itself, well.  It's JeA.  A Brown Eyed Girl.  I don't think I need to say much on this front eh?  I think she delivered what everyone expected of her and did it well.

I hope this post helps y'all decide to support JeA and her endeavors and purchase her album!^^b

Also, as an aside, I've received the GazettE's newest single, FADELESS, so my next unboxing post will be on that.  Hopefully that post will be out before their new 7th studio album BEAUTIFUL DEFORMITY releases.  WHICH IS ON OCTOBER 23!!!!  I'm excited.  I think I'm going to get the ridiculously expensive limited edition version.  I can't wait to do an unboxing post on that baby.  Also, I NEED A JOB.  Hire me? :D?

Unboxing #9 - Miryo's MIRYO aka JOHONEY

Ahem.  I've literally had this post as a draft since late May...meow.

Anywho, Miryo, of Brown Eyed Girls fame, released her first solo mini-album, titled MIRYO aka JOHONEY on February 1st, 2012.

A rundown of the tracklist:

1. Party Rock ft. 개리 (Gary) of 리쌍 (LeeSsang) and THE KOXX
2. DIRTY --> Official music video linked!
3. 사랑해 사랑해, (I Love You, I Love You) ft. 써니 (Sunny) of 소녀시대 (Girl's Generation) --> Official music video linked!
4. Revenger ft. 루드페이퍼 (Rude Paper)
5. Leggo ft. Narsha of Brown Eyed Girls

And now for the goodies:

Poofy packages are so cute aren't they.

Now whose hint of a visage is that I see...

Miryo! ♥

View of the spine.

Top view of the album.  Notice how thick the photo booklet is.

A hint of the photo booklet and the design of the CD.  Photo booklet is glued to the cover.

Direct look at the front cover of the photo booklet.  Buy your own copy to see all the pictures for yourself!

Back cover with tracklisting.

I like how sturdy the album is.  The case is hard material that will bend if you purposely apply enough force, but the corners should stay sharp and pointy no matter how you store your CDs.  However, beware, because while sturdy, the casing has a matte finish, meaning that scratches (and the like) will show quite readily.

Also, more personal preference than anything else, I am not a fan of gluing photo booklets to CD casings.  I'm just not.  There are a myriad of reasons why.  Sometimes (read: most of the time) the glue isn't strong enough so the booklet peels from the casing even though it may be brand, spanking new.  You can't take the booklet out to fully enjoy it.  You can't protect the spine of your casing from wear and tear; you have to open the casing all the way to even get at the booklet in the first place.  Granted some CDs, (like this one) are made so you can open it all the way up without damaging the spine, but yeah.  Still.  Phooey.

As for the music itself, I can honestly say that I was definitely not expecting Miryo to come at her music in the pop rock / electronic sort of way.  Perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised at the latter.  Everyone and their mother has been jumping on the electronic train because of...well, I don't really need to say it right?  The majority of the type of music played on mainstream radio has this type of sound.  Anywho, I was gearing myself for hard-hitting, spitfire raps, and hopefully we will get to see that one day as one of her future endeavors.  What she gave us for her solo debut was certainly not what everyone expected of her, but it was well done.

One of my favorite tracks on this mini-album is "Leggo".  It bears some similarity stylistically to "Love is...", Miryo's duet track with fellow Brown Eyed Girls member, JeA, but it is still magic every time I hear it.  Hell, both songs are beautiful. ♥

Unboxing #8 - Ga-In's Talk About S.

Well, hey, I survived finals...*flops*

Just barely.

I slept for 14 hours when I came home.  Blissful oblivion!


Anyway, here is Ga-In's Talk About S., released October 5th, 2012.  The tracklist for the mini-album is as follows:

1. 팅커벨, (Tinkerbell)
2. 그녀를 만나, (Tiredness)
3. 피어나, (Bloom)  --> Official music video linked
4. 시선, (The Gaze)
5. Catch me if you can

Now for the visuals:

Ordered from a different Kpop seller this time around, so different outer packaging.  It's so cute!

A hint of the album cover...

Ga-In looking gorgeous, as per usual.  The title of the album is glossy, just so you know.

I have words to say about the CD packaging...

Side view

This packaging...;~;

Folds open like so.

A closer look at the left panel.

That's hot.

Right flap folds open once more to reveal the CD and album booklet cover!

I really like the dark colors for the album's innards.  Heh.  I mean to say, the album's contents.

The front cover to the album booklet.  Held in place due to the fact that the last page is glued to the flap.

Album tracklist

Alrighty, so where to begin...

First off, I prefer the packaging of step 2/4 to Talk About S.  The case came in a sturdy, solid cardboard-y material.  You pretty much had to drop it or purposefully bend it with your hands to dent it.  Talk About S. is...not sturdy.  Not by ANY means.  It's basically made of cardstock.  This is why the thing looks flattened in the above pictures.  It's because it is.  The case is impractical for selling in music stores let alone shipping it halfway across the world.  Even with all that bubble wrap.  The pictures are hot and tasteful, but I'd prefer hot and tasteful AND NOT SQUISHED, but hey, that's just me.  I am also not a huge fan of adhering album booklets to the cases...

As for the music itself, I think I liked step 2/4 better.  That doesn't mean Talk About S. is terrible or anything like that.  I just liked her first mini-album better.  I have a friend who prefers this one over her first.  *shrugs*  Chalk it up to personal preference.

...And LOEN Entertainment, I'm still waiting on that Tinkerbell music video.  It deserves so much more than this one teaser.

Coming next: Miryo's MIRYO aka JOHONEY!

Unboxing #1 Addendum - Brown Eyed Girls' Sixth Sense Repackaged Album

I've survived finals and now...onto summer school!  Yay!  The fun never ends.

--Addendum to my first unboxing post!

Anywho, this post will mainly serve as a more in-depth look at Brown Eyed Girls' Sixth Sense Repackaged album.  Really, the post I did before did this masterpiece no justice.  Absolutely none at all.  It was more like a tease than an unboxing post.  I know there are many videos on YouTube that show the live unboxing of the album (and other singles/albums I've done thus far), but showing off my goods is just so much fun!  (Have to stroke that ego sometimes right?  Right...!)^^''  Well, here I go!  Please enjoy~!

I'll start off with where I left off last time...here's the back of the goods!

A close up shot of the cover slip.

Side view of the cover slip.  I think the semi-transparent/opaque factor makes it quite pretty.  Also, you can see how big the actual box is.

A closer look at the back of the cover slip.

The cover slip removed.  You can see the area where the cover slip was on the box.  Heh.

The back of the box.  The 'BG' logo and 'BROWN EYED GIRLS' is engraved into the box.  Quite nice.

The 'S' isn't all that visible in this shot.  But there ya go.  Side view.

Top of the box.  You can see how the felt wraps around.

Side of the box where it opens up.  Flap is held to the box by a magnet.

Just showing how the box opens up.

Lookit all the pretties inside. :3

Next up, I'm going to take snapshots of the contents of the box.

First up is this cardboard sleeve.

I wonder what's inside...

...Printed photos of the four members!!  And when you flip them around...

...Printed autographs from each of the girls!  Er.  Anyone care to translate them for me?

One side of the poster.  This 'tagline' is the theme for "Sixth Sense".  Shows up again later on and in the music video.

The other side of the poster.  Too bad the poster comes folded.  Guess I could have used something to hold down the corners before I took the picture, but oh well.

Next up is the 12 month calendar.  I love the design on the cover.  It's engraved on the cover and as you can tell from the flash of the camera, it's glossy.

The back of the calendar.  Like the box, it has the 'BG' logo and the band name underneath.

Side view of the calendar.

Finally, the actual calendar.  Six cards for each slot.  Each card has a month on one side and an individual photo of a group member on the other.

Closer look at the slogan.

A look at the actual calendar.  Kinda nifty because the calendar notes all the member's birthdays and their debut day.

A photo of how it's usually splayed on my desk.  Minus the desk.

Top view of the calendar.  You can see the slots and how the cards go in from the top.

They also come with a plastic cover screen thingy (one for each side), which I hope is clear in this picture.

A quick picture of how the photo booklet looks like.  If you click for the bigger picture, you can see how the band name is made up of pictures of the girls.  Kinda cool.

The back of the photo booklet.  The booklet also contains the lyrics and the credits.

Next comes the actual CD and DVD.  I'm a fan of the silvery, foil-y finish.

The back of the case for the discs.  The case is the standard cardboard/plastic contraption.

From the side.  Pretty standard.

The black disc is the CD and the white disc the DVD.  I like the circular motif they have going here and on the cover of the calendar.

Just for completeness...the inside of the empty box.  I like how the ribbon makes it easier to take everything out.  Just tug it up and everything lifts out.  Plus.  It's pretty.

Whew, that was a lot of photos.  I was doing this while watching Cold Case.  Fun.  It's a very interesting show.  I'm a huge fan of police procedurals and something about not letting unsolved crimes go unsolved is all kinds of awesome.

Anywho, the packaging for this album is AMAZING.  The music is just as incredible.  But of course, that part goes without saying.  It's freakin' Brown Eyed Girls.  I'm happy that I snagged this baby up before the prices were jacked up super high on this beauty.  Absolutely gorgeous.  The paper quality for the poster is excellent and the print quality is just as good.  Hrm.  It does smell a bit funny though when you unfold it and take it out the box.  The booklet is also quite pretty.  Most, if not all, of the pictures in the calendar shots are found in the booklet shots.  The pictures also contain shots taken from the backstage of their "Sixth Sense" promotions, so that's really awesome.  I think the booklet is about 40 or so pages long and it's nice that you can pull it out and look at it in its entirety.  The way the book is made also lets you open it up a little further.  Paper quality is nice and quite thick.  Similar to the poster.

I think the only small grumbles I have about this product is (1) the felt attracts A LOT of dust and (2) the disc case is easy to mess up.  As you can probably see in the photos, the case can and WILL get linty if you leave it sitting on the shelf for a while.  Dust and lint and stuff is not too difficult to remove from the velour, but it does get sort of annoying when you walk by and see all that stuff collected on the surface.  But that's okay.  It's sooooo beautiful.  Haha.  The second thing...the cardboard case...yeah.  A few droplets of water landed on the case when I was drying my hair and you can see where the droplets landed.  It's like when you wet lined paper and instead of blotting the paper, you rubbed it.  Also, the smooth texture of the case makes it extremely easy for it to pick up scratches and it shows quite a bit.  But as long as you're careful, it's all good.  And just one other thing about the case...but it's just me being nit-picky I swear.  It makes this loud clack-y noise when you tap the cover or close it or something like that.  But I mean, cardboard and plastic.  It's to be expected.  Oh wait!  One more thing.  That semi-transparent cover slip?  It's really, really, really fragile.  It's quite difficult to slip it off easily, so you're bound to get sweaty hands.  The slip collects sweat and crinkles a bit like when paper absorbs the sweat from your hands while writing.  And it's very rip-able.  The side of my cover slip already is starting to fall apart at the edges a bit. =/  OH.  ONE MORE THING.  Last thing!  The calendar cards slip out SUPER easily.  If you turn the calendar upside down, all of the cards and the plastic screens will fall out.  So...er...don't turn it over.

All in all, it's a lovely addition to any music collection, Kpop or otherwise.  I purchased this masterful loveliness at KpopHeaven, right when the business first started.  It's super expensive now because lots of places have already sold their stock of repackaged versions, but if you're able to get your paws on it, please do! :D