CptFantasy

It's tough to beat IU right now and I won't disparage her for having success because she deserves it, but I still felt sad when she beat out T-ARA. The great thing about this comeback in addition to their music, is the sense that things have returned to how they should be. T-ARA is back to their original lineup, they're feeling the love from Korea and most importantly, the girls seem happy. ♥

The first thing about Jiyeon I thought was "oh no! She re-injured her knee!" but the broadcast date was today while the recording was on 131019. Her knee is apparently feeling good enough for her to do the regular No. 9 choreography now.

Here is an example of the Sand Pebbles sound. They're pretty slick. T-ARA 's composers re-imagining this sound with the girls performing it makes me very excited! Here is what we can look forward to. That might just be a teaser image but even if that were the album packaging, it's not a big deal to me because I don't spend much time looking at the album art comparative to listening to the tracks.

Wow! They look beautiful! I love when they attend the fashion events.

Aigoo, enough already. I respect that Hwayoung is your bias but Hwayoung's comeback is about as likely as Elvis'.

I'm not sure where that cynicism comes from Scatter8, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that T-ARA are liars. There's no need to be a downer though. Just enjoy what they are doing now. Save the doom and gloom for the metal scene.

Kim Kwang Soo gets a lot of grief for his management style and a lot of it is well deserved, but recently in an interview Eunjung stated that he has backed off a bit from his overbearing style (I'm paraphrasing. Obviously Eunjung is far more diplomatic than I in this matter) partially because he's getting older and that firey disposition is starting to subside a bit. So it's entirely possible that while T-ARA has learned and grown from their experience that Kim Kwang Soo might have as well. He acknowledges some of his faults, he reverted T-ARA back to the original 6 members and they are in the midst of a successful comeback so he's doing some things right. That would deserve some recognition.

OK I'm excited! T-ARA always does well when they go retro.

Jiyeon looks like her knee is doing a lot better. I'm so happy the group is doing so well right now! Good times.

I like Areum. I hope she does well in her solo career. Clearly Core Content Media felt that T-ARA works best with their original six and the success of this comeback is a testament to that. No changes need to be made. T-ARA's original members are what made/make them great.

I'm not sure why these writers are so intent on dwelling on the past. The "bullying" controversy was 100% based on lies. No matter, T-ARA is stronger for the experience and gets a lot of love world wide. I'm proud of them.

Side note: I really like Soyeon and Boram's outfits here.

CR: MNet - gifs by CptFantasy

CR: SBS 인기가요 13.10.20 - gifs by CptFantasy

More to come... CR: SBS 인기가요 13.10.20 - gifs by CptFantasy

Xmas edition seems to be where it's at. Looks like I'm getting an early self bought Xmas gift this year. Sometimes you just have to be good to yourself.

As expected, Hyomin stuns with her elegant style. I'm anxious to see her in "Jinx!!!".

If she's working as hard on her music as she is on updating Instagram over the last 2 days, she'll be unstoppable!

Jiyeon's Injury is almost certainly a direct result of over-exertion. Everyone needs time to rest. CCM running our girls ragged like this is not cool!

My order from YesAsia was delayed. T_T Shipping Oct 26. I love the album though so I can be patient a little longer.

CR: Core Contents Media - gifs by CptFantasy (CF)

The feels! T_T They are so hard on themselves! That makes me feel a bit sad for them. If I could get a message to them, it would be that they have a lot of fans that love and support them all over the world and those fans want them to be successful and happy. Clearly from before their debut, Kim Kwang Soo had the vision of T-ARA surpassing SNSD's success but I don't know if that was a realistic at the time. Instead of letting the group evolve organically, he tried to force it with crazy scheduling, personnel changes and artificially inflated hype. I'm inspired by their recent interviews where they state their goal as continuing to develop and evolve as a group instead of merely just being #1 in sales. Obviously the goal of any group is to be the most successful ever but maximizing individual talents and getting the most out of the team's synergy is how you get to #1 rather than mimicking what someone else is doing. I think Kim Kwang Soo might finally be understanding this. Regarding KKS, I think this comeback is perhaps indicative of some new growth and maturity from him too. T-ARA is still promoting like crazy, but he's letting the girls get back to what made them so popular and successful in the first place. P.S. Now I want to hug Boram. ♥

CR: tiaradiadem - SBS, MTV - gif by CptFantasy (CF)

CR: South Korea National Police Agency + tiaradiadem

My message to Core Contents Media regarding T-ARA is as follows: "Don't make any changes! You're good!"