Music videos are a vital component to K-Pop. Many times an MV is released before the album or single and without an entertaining MV, the album often falls flat. You can tell the amount of interest in a band by the amount of views an MV gets on YouTube, and for many K-pop fans how the band looks is just as important as how well they perform. Despite this importance in MVs, there seems to be little variety at times as they put into effect relatively overused concepts, so here are some themes I've noticed over the years that seem to have become quite banal:

SEXY CONCEPT

This isn't the first time I've ranted about this and it probably won't be the last. When I got into K-Pop, I was struck by how gorgeous the performers were. Alluring, mysterious, bold, demure, you name it -- the girls were all kinds of attractive. There was obvious (After School's "Flashback") and there was less obvious (Rainbow's "To Me"), but all were fun to watch. Now, almost everyone's doing it. We're fed on a steady diet of it now. Isn't it getting old already? Hey, I love pizza, too, but it's not like I want to eat it every day.

Notable exceptions: Orange Caramel, Crayon Pop, SPICA

STELLAR - MARIONETTE

THE BOX

Everyone's guilty of this. It used to be confined to metal bands in the west (put 'em in a dark room and have them rock out). But everywhere I look in K-pop, they're dancing inside a box. Now, I can sort of understand it during the winter. The winters are pretty harsh in South Korea, and I wouldn't want to be outside for very long, I'm sure. But we've got rooms that look like checkerboards, dark rooms that look like parking garages, rooms with strange polygons, rooms that look like hotel suites, and just plain WTF-type rooms. Get 'em out in the open air sometimes!

Notable exceptions: None. 

TVXQ! - Spellbound

THE CAR

Another overused concept/element. In March 2014 alone, we have 2NE1, AlphaBAT, BTOB, SPEED, and Topp Dogg with cars as part of the MV. In the past 4minute's done it, as well as B.A.P., SHINee, Tiny-G, and f(x) (though, to be fair, it was a pink tank), not to mention countless others. December's "Don't Go" featured tons of cars. Why do they seem to dance around a car a lot? Do they think no one's ever seen one?

Notable exceptions: Rainbow's "To Me," where they paint the car as revenge against a cheating boyfriend. If you're going to feature a car, at least do something interesting with it.

TOPPDOGG - ARARIO

HEARTBROKEN SINGERS

This is a concept we see played out time and time again, for example in 2NE1's "Missing You," B2ST's "Fiction," December's "Don't Go," and almost anything by Baek Ji Young. That's only a tiny list and it's most prevalent in boy band videos. There always seems to be at least a nod to it, a singer with a lost expression, a hand on the heart or clenched fists, singing to someone about how they miss them. I'm not saying there aren't some very beautiful songs produced here, but maybe show some more of the good times they shared instead of a teary-eyed singer?

Notable exceptions: Crayon Pop, Orange Caramel

2NE1 - MISSING YOU

TARNISHED TOMORROWS

For a while there was a trend that thankfully seems to have abated somewhat: dystopian futures. T-ara did an epic MV with "Day by Day," B2ST flirted with the concept with "Shock" and "Breath," and Brown-Eyed Girls' "Sixth Sense" has a 1984-ish police state feel to it.  2NE1's "I Am The Best" had the girls in cyberpunk accoutrements shooting and smashing the set. 4minute's "What Your Name" used the zombie apocalypse as their tip of the hat to a future gone bad. 2NE1's "Come Back Home," while not as dark as it could be, still has an element of a cautionary tale when it comes to technology.

Notable exceptions: SISTAR

BROWN EYED GIRLS - SIXTH SENSE

As overexposed as the items on this list are, at least we can be thankful there's no Honey Boo Boo. :P

See anything I missed? Leave your comments below.