Eve of The Idol ∼1st Night∼ Tears of Ice - Rainie Yang's 'Ai Mei'

As the tears roll down her cheeks and her heart begins to break, the ice consumes all that she is, and soon it is the ice that she becomes...

✴❅✴ 1st Night ✴❅✴

Winter is truly here. The air smells crisp, the nights have become ever dark, and the decorative lights that gleam through the streets bring joy to all that happen upon them. Of course, with the coming of winter and the December months arrival, it is time for me to partake in my usual Seasons celebrations, and review the winter and Christmas videos our Idols create for our pleasure, our joy, and of course our sadness. If it fits the theme, here is where I will talk and write about it, all in the name of ice, snow, frost and hail.

For 12 Nights, and 12 Nights only, let's take a journey with Idols of all kinds and enjoy the wintry styles they have adopted. Whether the song is old or new, let's celebrate all it delivers. This season, let's fall in love with our Idols all over again...

This is the First Eve, and tonight we begin with a Tale of Ice. A tale of a girl in love, consumed by her broken heart...

Are you ready to be moved?

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2016: Year of the Bathtub Reviews, courtesy of Chiima

Good grief, that is a pretty sky.

And hey, look, there's Rainie! Heeeeey, giiiiirl! How you doin'?

She looks so youthful and pretty! ;w; How long ago was this, again? 2005? So, not too long ag---

... WAIT, WHAT!? I was freakin' 13 then!? WHAT!?

Good gawd, I feel old ;^;

Footprints in the sand. Memories easily washed away with the sweep of a wave. A Love that comes crashing like a tide, but fades just as quickly as my footprints in this sand...

This is quite like a painting, that sky. So damn pretty, though it looks rather cold. Get a coat on, Rainie!

So forlorn. So lost. So... so sad ):

For a while, rain was kinda Rainie's thang. I mean, I get why; Rainie. Rain. Rainy. Also, it's a damn good aesthetic.

Also; good grief, this scene is so pretty, and so Naichau Kamo though that single came after this, by about 4 years.

I want that bedroom.

Well... I want that bedroom, minus all the damn water coming through the ceiling and dripping onto the decor. I kinda wanna live without a leaking problem, especially in rainy ol' England.

I think Rainie wants that leak fixed, too. She's so done with her shitty Landlord ignoring her pleas.

Believe it or not, I've not really sat down to watch Devil Beside You. Love these scenes, though, and I love the OST Rainie aided in creating.

Those film reels still exist, and Rainie has one!? Girl, that's like a relic!

Best transition, and Rainie looks damn perfect here. I miss her long hair ;w;

Rainie: "Mirror Mirror on the wa--- Ah, fiddle sticks, not again!"

Are there memories everywhere in this room? Rainie, you need to get a better place, this one has a few problems, and not just the leaks.

Don't cry, baby, don't cry ): You will find a cute Show Lo, one day ;^;

These scenes are so well done, though.

I really would not light candles in an environment filled with leaks, just sayin'.

Good gawd, she does downtrodden and sad so well. This is why she is a sweetheart for Taiwan... at least, that's my opinion >o>

Girl, if candles ain't a good idea in your place, a sparkler isn't, either. Where the heck did you get that, anyway!?

With this candle she creates light, but that light can just as quickly be put out...

My Yu Ai senses are tingling...

Are Ai Mei and Yu Ai sister MV's? It feels like it.

This is a damn pretty scene, though.

My little Rainie ):

This really is a gorgeous PV. Some of these shots are absolutely breathtaking.

Ooh, a dutch angle! I love the scene where she steps between the bottles and vases, too.

These scenes, though ♡♡♡

Well, honey, I don't think a book is going to help you much in keeping you dry :/

As you wait for the memories to disappear, time ticks away. Only when it comes to a stop will the memories begin to fade...

And just like that, time begins to freeze...

Rainie... ;-;

I'm just getting so nostalgic. It feels like yesterday when my sister first showed me this MV... ;^;

Get the blanket on the bed, Rainie! It may be a bit damp from the rain and all, but it's better than nothing!

Even when everything is frosted over, it still looks so freakin' pretty.

The memories won't return any more, Rainie. They've frozen, just like everything else has ):

I just want to hold her, and make her feel all warm and happy again ): ;^;

Good gawd, she is a Queen. And yet again, I miss her long hair.

Such beautiful scenes in such a sad music video. How Rainie reacts to everything is just so powerful.

I've not watched Devil Beside You, so... is that a promise ring? Or is it just insinuating a promise ring? Is it his ring? Either way, I will think of it is a promise ring of some form. It makes everything a little more hurtful ;-;

I wanna say peek-a-boo and joke, but I'm too sad right now ;;

Rainie is amazing. She makes me want to cry whenever I watch this or Yu Ai.

Time stands still for those who want to let their memories fade away...

And soon, you will stand as still as time, and your memories will finally be let go, and your heart will no longer hurt.

Because when you shed tears of ice for what once was, you become the ice, and your heart will then be soothed.

But as ice does, you too will fall, and you will break.

Time is up

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For my First Eve of The Idol posts this winter, I wanted to go back to a song that is old, but still very dear to my heart. When watching dramas as a teenager, my sister introduced me to Rainie Yang and her beautiful song, Ai Mei. For a long time, this music video and its disheartening beauty has been in the back of my mind, ever present and everlasting, much like Yu Ai, which was released just five years later. One reason for why it sticks is, quite possibly, that it was the first video of Rainie Yang's I saw, before I started to listen to her music from 2010 on-wards. Another reason may be that it is because this is quite a powerful music video, and how effectively it seems to infuse those ideas of time, ice and memories, and how once time stops by the ice, the memories Rainie holds also end as her own time has come to its end.

In so many ways, it is absolutely breathtaking, but completely heartbreaking as well.

This was always going to be the first review for Winter 2016, because it has resonated with me for so long now. Also, whilst it might not seem like a winter video from the start, Ai Mei holds a coldness within it, but also a deep warmth that is reminiscent of the winter months. In how its edited, we see the warmth in the beginning in both the present and memory shots, but as the music video goes on, it becomes chilly and sad through the use of the blue undertones. As the rain continues and grows ever persistent, Rainie's memories become colder and less affectionate. She is letting her mind crumble as time goes on, and what she once perceived as happy is now deeply sorrowful.

From when she lights the sparkler, she is still happily recalling those memories. Yet once she lets the candle go out, her memories begin to darken, and she longs to forget the past.

I do love this video. I love the light touches of symbolism throughout that I would have never picked up on until now. I like how the rain represents her sadness, and how as it slowly grows, it starts to show just how deep her sadness and loneliness is. I like how as the video goes on, we see it change from a slightly warmer setting to a deep coldness, and how the ice that slowly encompasses her is allowing her to forget the memories, but for the cost of time stopping for her completely.

I think that Ai Mei, as a music video, is some form of allegory for the winter. For a lot of people, winter can be a happy time of the year, but it can also be a sad one. It is a season that holds a lot of weight and memories, and when you have loved ones around you, you do feel the warmth and joy, but sometimes the loved ones you hold dearest to you are not always there, and thus the winter can bring with it deep woe and regret. Much like the memories we hold within ourselves, winter can become a double edged sword. We just have to try and not let those memories stop us from feeling the warmth, otherwise like Rainie, we will freeze, and time will pass by us, or it will stop completely.

Ai Mei saddens me, but I do love this PV. It was the start of me enjoying some of Rainie Yang's music, and it allowed me to see a side to her that was not bright or comedic. A truly stunning performer, Rainie shows off her acting abilities and sentimentality in this thought provoking music video.

A melancholy beginning for this Eve of The Idol series, I write this to remind all that we must think about what winter might bring. Though it can deliver joy in its wake, be aware that it can equally bring about a deep sadness within others.


Are your memories of the winter enough to make you wish time would halt its hand?

Until next time, everyone.

Much Love,
Chiima☆