Magical Beauty - IU's 'Good Day' PV Review!

All opinions on the singer, song and PV are my own and no one else's, unless otherwise stated. Please respect my opinion, and I will respect yours - do not take offence from my opinion, either. FREE MINDS! 8D

IU is the sweetheart of Korea, or at least, that's what I read. But, for me, she is the first K-pop idol that I actually took a keen interest in, so, when I heard that she would be debuting in Japan... yeah, I was excited! I mean, this is one of the debuts that I have been waiting for, next to Show Luo of course, and now that they have both debuted... I need Rainie Yang next! I don't count one 2010 single release as an official debut, really.

Anyway, I was really looking forward to IU's debut as a Japanese artist, and I was happy to find out that her song, Good Day, would be the start of it all. Now, Good Day is my favourite song from IU because of its Fairy-tale like feeling and sound to it. That, and the PV is really beautiful and makes me really happy. It's one of those songs that is just... very up-lifting, so I wondered if I would like it just as much in Japanese as I do in Korean.

Does it uphold? Does IU still manage to charm me in the new Japanese version of this song, with a totally new PV to boot?

Well, let's find out... but first, the pic-spam! IYAAA!~

So, instead of a grocery store, we instead have a violin store? Cool beans!

For some reason, when I saw IU's hair, I was reminded of Rainie Yang's hair when she was in Miss No Good...

Oh! He's cute, IU, I approve!

And so the parrot makes a return... but this time, he has a friend! :D

I have to say, nice scenery for this PV - I really like the classy, bright look going on here.

Erm... is that guy on the far right holding the wall like it's his lover?

... Forever Alone

ABANDON THE BIRDS!!!

again

... Er, what?

Am I the only one who misses that weird one-man-band guy covered in feathers? Yes? Damn!

IU is being ignored! I bet a lot of her fans would kill to be next her - they would kill the guy ignoring her!

IU wants to be noticed! Notice IU!

Heyll, even I wouldn't ignore her!

OMFG so much pastel! And that house is helluva pretteh :F

I like this brightness *o*

er... random guitar guy? Where da fuq is the pigeon man?

IU: "hmph!!!"

Crud, IU is moody!

Oh look, scene/dress change!

I much preferred it when it looked like this, with the night transition and darker colours

But I do say, those costumes for the men improved! Though IU is not happy with her wardrobe! HMPH!!!

Parrot: "Oh, I do say, look at this, a key of sorts!"

IU: "Holla!"

That guy in the left hand corner looks like he's getting ready to take a photograph of the girl. Lawls

... IU looks too sweet and innocent, no wonder she's popular... other than her amazeballs voice, that is.

This is pretty *__*

Oh, I see how it is. Breaking and entering is okay now, is it?

And that is how IU found the Secret Garden...

... And someone's diary, JACKPOT!!!!

Dude,t his camera angle is effing wonderful!

A much needed screen cap, just for the lols

It reminds me of High School Musical, too

IU: "But I was just getting to the good par--- oh Fuck."

Crap, IU's gonna get beat up by this guy for breaking and entering, stalking him and for reading his diary!!!

... Wait, what? Is that it? A pat on the head? Is that really all?

Wow, PV, way to show girls that it's okay to do things that are, well, illegal and immoral :/

Though, IU still looks guilty and unhappy. Did he reject her rather creepy advances?

Okay, this scene is LOVE

WHY DID YOU REPLACE THE PIGEON GUY WITH THEM? WHY?

Other than that, this scene is very pretty! :D

IU wonders why the guy rejected her, whilst some creepy dude tries to smell her hair...

awww look, couples!

It just makes IU look forever alone, though D8

Stalker staaare~~~

And then, she leaves sadly - and it actually made me sad ):

And that's the end of the PV!

So, as I said previously - this is the release I had been anticipating when I heard about it, so the moment that I had seen the PV preview, I listened to it... and wasn't that impressed. However, I wanted to wait it out for the full PV to decide what I felt towards IU's Japanese re-do of this fantastic song, and in the end, I have realised that I still feel satisfaction and happiness from both the song and the video.

When I first watched IU originally, I had never heard of her at all - but my friend was a big fan of K-pop, and had kept posting videos onto her youtube news feed. I stumbled upon the video Good Day because of this, and it quickly became the song that is my favourite from IU. It was so happy and cute, and the PV was absolutely stunning, that I just couldn't stop liking it - hence why I was anticipating this release.

I am glad that the Japanese release doesn't fall flat, either. IU still brings a stunning performance with her innocent nature, as well as a nice adaptation of the original storyline from the original Good Day. I absolutely loved the cinematography in this - it was actually a lot better than the original, in my opinion, which surprised me - though I do obviously have some problems with a few of the changes, like how I don't like the newer costumes or the fact that the one-man band is no longer there, and is replaced with what seems to be an orchestra. But, other than that, the rest of the PV is extremely enjoyable.

I enjoyed how IU seemed to be much shyer here - whilst in the original, she went to embrace the man she loved, here she didn't even get to - in the end, he simply rejected her advances and it was IU who had to leave, not him. Whilst I liked the more confident and unsure IU from the original Good Day MV, I also enjoyed this shy, unsure and demure persona that she took on for her Japanese debut, to show two sides to her character. However, I still find that her taking the key and breaking and entering was a little questionable about her motives.

Okay, scenery - I adored it, as you probably guessed, I really liked the setting of the entire video, and the overall finish. It was bright, enchanting and showed beautiful places in the entire video. The hidden garden was a nice added feature, and really reminded me of the Secret Garden. It was very enchanting, in a way, a lot more fairytale like than the original PV, and seemed to show more of a fairytale like storyline to it. The dance scenes were really nice, too - I especially loved the pastel colours that were being used for the girls and the neutral toned outfits for the men. It just gave an overall fresher feeling to the video, without being too overwhelming with the colour.

The shots were amazing - I loved the close up shots of their hands, their faces, and how the editing really captured the story in such a short period of time - so, the overall finish of this video was beautiful. I really enjoyed it, and the video left me with that satisfied feeling that I usually get after watching IU's Good Day PV.

Nnow, moving onto the song - there really isn't much to say other than that I love it. I love the Korean version, and I obviously much prefer it, but the Japanese version is pretty as well. I like the overall magical sound to it and how enjoyable it is. IU's voice is amazing, and she still manages to keep her mature, intriguing voice whilst singing in Japanese, which amazed me. So, whilst her pronunciation probably isn't the best (a lot of people seem to be complaining about that, actually, but I think it's fine), I think that IU still managed to re-do this song really well. It's sung beautifully, she still has that charming tone to her voice, and it sounds just as good as the original.

So, overall, I really enjoyed this video and song - whilst I was a bit disappointed with the preview, the PV and song won me over once again when it was out fully. IU is such an incredible singer, and I really do like her - she's the first Korean singer that I genuinely care about enough to listen to constantly, and I do hope that, some day, she will be the reason that I begin to like Korean music more and more.

So, what do you guys think of IU and her debut into the Japanese music industry? What do you think of the new PV for Good Day? Does it suit your tastes, or do you much prefer the original?

And, if you still haven't watched it, be sure to check it out!

Chiima~