Author: Rahul M

Mandatory military enlistment can often be a big hurdle in a male idol’s career, but WOODZ has seen his popularity skyrocket during the time he was serving. I can’t remember such a huge enlistment-era glow-up happening before, and WOODZ seems eager to capitalize on the surge. Ahead of a new album, he’s released new song Smashing Concrete only days after being discharged. This is also pretty unheard of, and a testament to WOODZ’s focus. He’s clearly passionate about his career as a musician and we’re all lucky for that. And rather than re-emerge with a sentimental “for the fans” ballad,…

AHOF debuted with a splash earlier this month, quickly winning music shows and my own playlist with their fantastic Rendezvous. The rest of their mini album is more subdued than I’d like, but the strength of its title track has me revisiting the b-sides more often than I usually would and every one of them has proven to be a grower. Today, the guys are promoting The Universe (파랑 학교, 초록 잔디, 빨간 운동화) with its own music video. I prefer the more stark, melancholic Incompleted on the album, but The Universe‘s sprightly mid-tempo sound feels best suited to the…

2025 has been the year of rookie boy groups spawned from survival series. NouerA, AHOF and Close Your Eyes have led the charge, each delivering great music that feels unique to them. Next up is SEVENTOEIGHT, emerging from SBS’s series SCOOL, which concluded late last year. Confusingly, there are six members of this new group, making their name a simple… counting upward from that number? I guess we should just be thankful it’s not another acronym. More importantly, debut single DRIP&DROP is quite ear-catching. They’ve opted for a high-octane dance sound different from their contemporaries. In a few reviews before…

Last week, EPEX teased their new album with pre-release Picasso — a track so confrontational and unpleasant that it seemed to put a curse on the entire industry. Seriously, every new song released in its wake has struggled to reach the high quality of July’s first half! Now, the group is grateful for our collective tears with their new title track Grateful To Tears (눈물나게 고마워) — or at least, that’s the wild conspiracy theory I’m taking from it. Grateful To Tears is a complete one eighty from Picasso‘s brash assault. The song catches EPEX in soft rock mode, a…

By 2025 standards, The Boyz’ excellent VVV did everything it could to buck the year’s most regrettable trends, turning its energy way up, adding a great series of catchy melodies and stretching the track to nearly four (!) minutes to accommodate multiple musical goodies (a bridge! a dance break!). No wonder it’s one of the year’s best songs. With follow-up Stylish, it’s as if the group wanted to show exactly what could have happened if they had gone the opposite route. A precipitous plunge in quality between comebacks is rare, but it does happen. My mind immediately goes to A.C.E’s…

The upcoming Korean action-hero series “Twelve” has unveiled its first look at the cast’s script reading session! Inspired by the 12 zodiac animals of the East, “Twelve” tells the story of 12 angels who live among humans in human form to protect the Korean Peninsula from evil spirits. Long ago, the angels barely managed to seal the forces of evil in the gates of hell through their sacrifice, bringing peace. However, with the evil spirits awakening, chaos returns. The script reading brought together directors Kang Dae Kyu and Han Yoon Sun along with the star-studded cast, including Ma Dong Seok, Seo In…

Upcoming drama “My Troublesome Star” has dropped its main trailer! “My Troublesome Star” is a romantic comedy about Korea’s biggest star Im Se Ra (Jang Da Ah), who mysteriously vanishes and wakes up one day as Bong Cheong Ja (Uhm Jung Hwa), an ordinary middle-aged woman. The drama follows Bong Cheong Ja as she struggles to navigate life after losing 25 years of her memory, with the help of detective Dokgo Chul (Song Seung Heon). The newly released teaser opens with Bong Cheong Ja in complete shock: she closes her eyes in 1999 and wakes up in 2025. Im Se…

tvN’s “Head Over Heels”is heading toward its conclusion! “Head Over Heels” is a fantasy romance drama about a boy who is fated to die and the young shaman who tries to rescue him from his fate. Cho Yi Hyun stars as Park Seong A, a high school student who leads a double life as a shaman by night. Choo Young Woo plays her first love Bae Gyeon U, who is plagued by bad luck and was born with the misfortune of a predestined death. With just two episodes left, here are three key points to look forward to in the…

ENA’s new drama “The Defects” has teased even more intense suspense! Based on a popular webtoon, “The Defects” is a new action thriller about children who have been abandoned by their adoptive parents—and their fight for survival and revenge. Spoilers In the previous episodes, the children discovered the horrifying truth behind the brutal “Refund” system and decided to confront the very organization that sought to eliminate them. Led by their determined leader Kim Ah Hyun (Won Jin Ah), they used So Mi’s (Lee Naeun) adoptive father to secure a VIP keycard, bringing them one step closer to uncovering the identity…

tvN’s upcoming drama “Love, Take Two” has unveiled new stills featuring its supporting cast! “Love, Take Two” is a heartwarming comedy drama about a mismatched duo: a 43-year-old single mother (Yum Jung Ah) and her 23-year-old medical student daughter (Choi Yoon Ji). The pair moves to the countryside to start a new chapter in their lives, encountering various people and chaotic situations that teach them profound lessons about life. The stills feature Kim Sun Young, Yang Kyung Won, Kim Mi Kyung, Kang Ae Shim, Jung Young Joo, and Park Soo Young, who come together for laughter, emotion, and realism. The…