Asian Artists in America

So apparently BoA released an album in Japan in February, and I didn’t even notice. It’s been two years since her last studio album in Japan, and she’s planning to release an album in Korea later this year, which will be five years since her last album there. The reason that she’s been (relatively) “inactive”¹ in Asia? She released an album in the States early last year.

She seems to have stretched herself quite thin, working in at least three countries. She collapsed after an awards show in Korea and was generally suffering poor health around 2006, if I remember correctly, because she was working too hard, promoting both “Girls On Top” and “Outgrow” at the same time.

How successful are these crossover attempts, though? When Hikki (宇多田光, utada hikaru) was about to crossover, back in 2004, she pointed out that there aren’t really any Asian artists in the U.S. Her first album, titled “Exodus,” was not the right album to crossover with, though. The melodies she used seemed like they wanted to be expanded instead of squeezed into one song together, in general; for example, “Kremlin Dusk” featured four lovely melodies, but consolidated into one song, the song felt less cohesive. She also used lyrics that were sometimes not what her fans were used to (many of the songs centered around sex) or not what fans of the American music industry might be used to (might I point out the lyric “I need someone who’s true, someone who does the laundry too”).

Her second crossover album (but not second studio album — she released an album, “Precious,” when she was just 15), titled “This Is The One,” released March 14, 2009 (three days before BoA’s album). It was much more well-suited for American audiences, featuring more R&B melodies and catchy hooks, although a few of the songs were still a little on the Hikki-is-still-trying-too-hard-to-stand-out-and-be-unique side of things. The lyrics were also more toned down, less explicit, but still had enough of the sex appeal that I think Hikki was trying to capture in her first album as a change from her Japanese albums written for her Japanese audience. She remarked, in an interview, that she was surprised that people really liked “Apple and Cinnamon” as much as they did; apparently many fans informed her that it was their favorite song off of the album.

Three days after the release of Hikki’s second crossover album, BoA’s first crossover album hit the market. It was not as heavily marketed as it could have been, but her fans generated a lot of interest and roped in many new fans in the U.S. (I actually showed one of the “Eat You Up” music videos to my lab partner who then became obsessed with it, and later he told me that he and some of his frat brothers watched the video on the order of fifty times in one night.) Her album was placed in the “dance” section at music stores when it hit the shelves, and that is definitely what it was: all of the songs had a pretty solid beat and would make pretty good dance music at a club or dance party. Her pronunciation was better than I expected, even in interviews (it’s easier to pronounce words correctly when singing in a foreign language than when speaking in a foreign language), but it’s unclear to me whether it was good enough to impress the American fans she was trying to woo.

(Personally, I think BoA is amazing. One, she’s a good singer. Two, she’s quite a good dancer. Her Japanese dance teachers, who are known for their strictness, have praised her talent and hard work, and the choreographers that have worked with her have expressed amazement at her dancing ability. Three, she’s fluent in Korean and Japanese, speaks conversational English, and has some understanding of Chinese. Four, she’s really hardworking and dedicated to her career.)

Interlude over: I should point out that Hikki has some sort of accent, although it is not Japanese. She is bilingual, having grown up in Tokyo and New York, but she overenunciates her English, which makes her sound non-native despite the fact that she is plenty fluent in English. Anyway, BoA’s album was fairly homogenous in its dance genre, and didn’t have the variety that her fans expected and wanted. Her Korean- and Japanese-language albums have ballads, upbeat dance songs, jazzy songs, R&B songs, etc, allowing her to showcase her singing ability. I think many fans were disappointed that she didn’t show more sides of herself on this album, and she really didn’t give herself a fair chance, marketing only one facet of her many talents.

I’m not sure whether American pop culture is quite ready to accept Asian culture just yet. Here, I feel the need to refer to Maurissa Tancharoen’s “Nobody’s Asian in the Movies”, but this brings us, perhaps, to a slightly different topic than the one I started out with, and it’s late, so I will take my leave and possibly continue this in a linguistic analysis next week.

¹ For BoA, “inactive” means that she missed a year in releasing albums, seeing as she’s released a studio album in Korea once a year from 2000-2005, and a studio album in Japan once a year from 2002-2008.

Dollhouse: “Epitaph Two: Return”

My thoughts as I watched the episode, just because. Yes, this is pretty much just a dump of thoughts, all jumbled together.

The speculation in the jeep is interesting. Maybe they got hit with a blanket signal, maybe they were on a corporate retreat; who knows how they got here? The point is, a lot has changed, and there’s a lot that’s been made plausible by the huge time jump. It’s also reasonable exposition to remind viewers of the current state of things.

Hmm, are those guys possibly Echo’s crew? Ah, no, alas. They’re from Neuropolis. And haha, the term “Death Star” survived.

Wow, that guy is a disgusting pig. That shot could have been cut better, because Ambrose is clearly about to open his mouth and continue speaking, and he looks like he should’ve gotten more out of his mouth before Harding says “Watch it.” Also, it figures that the higher-ups would be trading in bodies and just using and disposing them, which is just terrible. I mean, you know he’s not going to keep his word on the elliptical.

I think that shot of Eliza Dushku getting ready to throw that punch from the POV of the guy she’s about to punch is such a great one ^_^

That kid is so definitely Sierra and Victor’s. Hmm, except they split up, in that flashback from “Epitaph One.” Well, we’ll see. And, “awww, there goes Joss and his strawberries, just like with Kaylee in Firefly, again.”

I’m not sure I think that’s the correct delivery of the line “Aren’t you?” from mini-Echo. She puts the emphasis on “you,” but I feel like the emphasis should be on the “aren’t.” Anyway.

Oh look, Firefly similarities again: “You will keep a civil tongue in {this house,that mouth},” or something like that. But the little-teapot-short-and-stout thing? So cute. <3 Topher.

“World still needs heroes, kid.” That sounds so much like something I’d hear from Firefly. The tone, at least. And I think it’s wonderful how everyone just bursts out laughing, like they really are family, like they really are who their characters are, the way that the Firefly cast was so comfortable around each other, the way that sometimes a scene would just cut to the laughing Buffy cast in the middle of an episode.

“She loves it when you’re corny.” *giggles* That’s so adorable. And true; that is, corny/dorky can be very cute.

So here’s what I don’t get: why do they all storm outside, without cover, when the thing that’s rolling into their yard is so heavily armored? Hmm, what an interesting language. And what interesting tech.

“Tech heads,” eh? Definitely believable from the episode when Victor went all hive-mind on them, and also because he took the extra fighting skills that Topher offered him in the last episode. And awww, Mag likes Kilo! Speaking of which: I’m glad Maurissa’s back. She’s all cute and tough, which is adorable. I don’t know how I feel about this scene with Kilo and Zone, though. He makes a snide comment about how apparently everyone likes girls, referencing his recent realization that Mag does, and there’s this exchange about the thumb drives. Sure, it explains how the tech heads work, but…the humor just doesn’t quite catch me, here, about taking out “mercy” to make room for the “weapons expert.”

It’s evident, though, that Tony loves Priya, despite that he decided to be a tech head against her wishes. Makes you wish you could help her to see, to understand, that.

What an interesting conversation between Paul and Echo, showing how their relationship has developed over the past ten years. I am somewhat amused at the line about how Echo’s got a bunch of people in her head but she’s the loneliest person Paul knows, because it reminds me of the conversation between Buffy and Faith, about how Faith thinks that Buffy is the one surrounded by family and friends, when really, she’s all alone because she’s the Slayer.

Faith: So, here’s the laugh riot. My whole life, I’ve been a loner.
Buffy: That’s the funny part? Did I miss something?
Faith: I’m trying to–
Buffy: Sorry. Sorry, go.
Faith: No ties. No buddies. No relationships that lasted longer than…well, Robin lasted pretty long. Boy’s got stamina.
Buffy: Principal Wood? And you? And in my…
Faith: Don’t tell me you two got wriggly?
Buffy: No, no, no no. We’re just…good friends. Or, mortal enemies, depending on which day of the– was that the funny part?
Faith: Okay, the point: me, by myself all the time. And looking at you, everything you have, and, I don’t know, jealous. Then there I am. Everybody’s looking to me, trusting me to lead them, and I’ve never felt so alone in my entire life.
Buffy: Yeah.
Faith: And that’s you, every day, isn’t it.
Buffy: I love my friends. I’m very grateful for them. But that’s the price. Being a Slayer.
Faith: There’s only supposed to be one. Maybe that’s why you and I can never get along. We’re not supposed to exist together.
Buffy: Also you went evil and were killing people.
Faith: Good point. Also a factor.
Buffy: But you’re right. I mean, I…I guess everyone’s alone. But, being a Slayer. There’s a burden we can’t share.
Faith: And no one else can feel it. Thank God we’re hot chicks with super powers.
Buffy: Takes the edge off.
Faith: Comforting.
Buffy: Mm-hmm.

(Last part is just there for the laughs. Yay Joss ^_^)

Oh, evolution at work, eh? Super-butchers! And that icky cannibalism thing again.

Ohh…Mag. Ohhhh…Paul. Crap. Also, that gunshot…didn’t it exit through his forehead? Aren’t exit wounds normally largish? Anyway, the way Echo tells Victor, “That’s all of us,” it is so much like the ending of Serenity, when Zoe tells the others that Wash isn’t coming. >_<

The way Alpha looks at Echo, off-screen, after she says “we lost him,” you can tell that he still wants her. I was thinking, “Damnit Alpha, he just died.”

Oh boy, rebels. But their logic makes sense. They’ve adapted to thrive in this new world, so of course they “like” it in their own twisted way, since they’re the ones who’re going to come out on top, eventually. Kilo calling Echo “sister” is so interesting — the dolls still recognize each other as some form of equals. And oh, Topher, he looks like a little chipmunk or groundhog or something, perched up like that.

Hehe, Alpha is always so verbose and hilarious. “Because we’re not freakshows. Well, okay, maybe I am. And, Echo. Topher’s a little off, but, Adelle: she’s a class act all the way.” And he can always tell when he’s about to lose his audience, and gets straight back to the point. Very good.

It’s interesting, what Victor says: “I know how good it feels. Skip learning the hard way. Skip the long hours, the sweat, the training. Just to feel the thrill of perfection. But if we’re going to rebuild the world, I wanna do it myself.” Let’s ask ourselves, then, if we had the choice of being able to acquire a skill without having to work for it, would we want it? Would we actually want it? Does achieving some level of perfection at a skill only bring that sense of satisfaction, of accomplishment, if you have to work for it, if you know that you struggled to get there?

Aww, Kilo’s line: “Oh God, she’s so cool.” So adorable. Maurissa is totally awesome in my book. She’s a groupie, just like she was in Dr. Horrible!

And Topher, again: so adorable, in his almost-childlike state. He’s so free, and bounces around, and is just…so innocent. Alpha, also, offers his personalized funny: “Eh, it spoke to the schizophrenic in me. Well, both of them, actually.”

This scene is wonderfully done. It’s wonderfully set up, because they forced us to ignore his death earlier, or, at least, didn’t give us enough time to process it. And the dialogue segues nicely, so long as you’re not metagaming. What she says is so true, for both her and Sierra, until she gets to the point where she says that he’s dead. And this is where Priya’s chance to rebuild her family also really hits: she’s got to see it, now. She’s got to take advantage of it. The monologue is wonderfully done because it sets you up, emotionally, to start thinking, “that’s right, stop moping and take advantage of the time you have left,” and then it hits you that there is no time left, because we’re not talking about Priya and Victor anymore, and instead we’re talking about Echo and Paul. There are a few parts where I dislike the delivery of the lines, because her intonation is slightly different from what I feel like it ought to be, but on the whole, the scene is still nicely designed and executed.

Topher’s feelings for Bennett, Adelle and Topher’s relationship…it’s all evolved the way one might expect, over the time that has elapsed since we last saw them. And when Adelle realizes that Topher’s not coming back, and Topher says that he didn’t want to cause any more pain…you kind of realize that Topher has realized just what he’s done with his tech, and he wants it to be buried with him.

Mm, good for Priya, that she’s come to understand Tony’s motivations, and that they can all be together again. They’ll make things work, I know they will. It’s like Echo said: they erased Tony’s brain time and time again, and he still loved her. It occurs to me, then: is this a commentary that there are certain connections between people that just can’t be explained, that simply are, and that there are people, or maybe a single person, out there, who completes you the way that Priya and Tony so obviously complete each other and belong with each other?

Mag and Zone have a hilarious relationship. “And you, stumpy, aren’t going anywhere. Except maybe down…” (referring, of course, to Mag’s liking Kilo). And then she rebuts, “Try not to have any influence on her of any kind.” Huh, a landscape architect? People really do change and adapt in unpredictable and amazing ways in the face of adversity, don’t they.

Hmm, Alpha’s planning to revert? Is he really going to be wiped back as cleanly as everyone else is, back to the killer that he was (after all, the Dollhouse recruited him from a prison), or will he retain some of his Alpha personality, and have evolved? That would be an interesting story to watch unfold, or speculate on.

Here’s a terrifying thought: what if they timed their emergence into the world too early, so that the butchers slaughtered them before Topher could set up and set off the explosive? Anyway, that shockwave from the building reminds me of the watchers being slaughtered.

I wish Zone had smiled a little more. It felt a little insincere, the way he said it. A little…cynical? As if Boyd were saying it, but he had some hidden agenda, or didn’t mean it, or something. Maybe even sinister, in the case of Boyd.

And now, we finally get to see what’s underneath all of the memories in Echo’s head, behind the scenes that pop out of the screen and leave behind… Echo and Paul. So here’s my question: what version of Paul did Echo get, exactly? Did she get the Paul that loved her before Alpha damaged his brain so that Topher had to rewire him without the fond memories of Echo? If so, was he told that ten years had passed, the way the Victor was apparently expecting to awaken with extra fighting skills in the last episode? Or maybe she got some version of Paul that had evolved inside Alpha over the last ten years, and the favor he’d wanted was from Topher, to help him dump that Paul onto a drive for Echo?

Lastly, this is kind of silly, but watching Echo take a jump-step into her pod, I am vaguely reminded of when Felicia Day “stepped” off the stage in Dr. Horrible, but in reality, it was a six-foot drop or something.

All in all, a reasonable wrap-up to the show, I think. Rather hurried, sure (I’d have liked to see them spend more time on Boyd’s history instead of just blowing him up last episode, and I’d have liked to see more a lot of the other development as well, although that’s more easily extrapolated), but on the whole, it really did wrap things up nicely, and gave some amount of closure to many of the story lines that I think a lot of fans were hoping for.