[MV & Album Review] Honey Popcorn � 'Bibidi Babidi Boo'

AKP STAFF

HONEY POPCORN � BIBIDI BABIDI BOO

Track List:

1. Bibidi Babidi Boo
2. First Kiss
3. Pretty Lie

Controversial girl group Honey Popcorn has officially debuted with their first-ever EP 'Bibidi Babidi Boo.' Arguably more famous for the contention surrounding their past as Japanese adult video stars (including a Blue House petition), the group consists of Yua Mikami, who tapped two other AV stars to be in the group with her -- Miko and Sakura. Both of these gals were in J-Pop girl groups; Miko was part of NMB48, and Sakura was one of the members in Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome. Frankly, I'm not concerned with their adult video history, I'm more concerned with how they sound now.�

"Bibidi Babidi Boo" is their title track. It couldn't be more different than its namesake from Disney's 'Cinderella.' It's also undeniably cute and catchy. It's not bad at all, and not that different from anything Weki Meki or Pristin did when those groups debuted.

�"First Kiss" is an absolutely sweet track. Saccharine and very bubblegum, it's probably better than "Bibidi Babidi Boo." It does nothing to reinvent the wheel, but it's fun for all that. I like how it sounds.�

"Pretty Lie" is more of a retro style track, very 50s girl group with some modern conventions. Thankfully, though, it wasn't too slavishly retro. It's cute.

As a package, all of these songs have an infectious groove to them. If you just relax and focus on it sonically, you'd find that it's refreshing and pleasant overall. They also don't rely on the now-overused tropical house beat as another giant plus. The fact that they put up their own money for this is also notable. It's a pretty good debut, and I wanna see where they take this. �

MV REVIEW

It's kind of a cute fairy concept, with starry backgrounds, a crystal ball, floating glowy lights, lush meadows with levitating mirrors, votive candles, and even a tarot spread. The CGI, the lighting, everything here is perfect -- except the dancing sequences.

This MV is really quite good, despite the jittery camera work during the dancing shots. I don't understand why the jerking and the fast zooms. The fact that it looks intentional makes it somehow worse. Maybe it was meant to keep your attention. It just gave me vertigo.

The dancing ranges from not bad to merely pedestrian. Similarly, the environments they dance in are the same. From a largely featureless room amid balloons, to a fully realized intergalactic background, the girls move and gesture. But what's funny is while the empty room has rather bland dancing, the celestial background is where they kick things up a notch.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. Given the sometimes oversexed MVs in K-Pop, it was reasonable to expect the same here with adult video stars and all. I've never been so glad to be so wrong.