K-Pop Ranter

Review: SHINee - Why So Serious MV

Posted by : Kai Lin April 30, 2013

SHINee has finally released the music video of Why So Serious from The Misconceptions of Me! Do check it out below!

Initial Thoughts
As with many other fans, I first questioned why SM would choose to release this without Jonghyun. Though he may have been involved in a car accident, I favoured the thought of pushing back the comeback until after his recovery over releasing a music video now without him. April marks a month evidently jam-packed with comebacks, so the most worrying question left is: Would this music video of an incomplete idol group be able to survive in the competition? After all, the music video is essentially 20% less in all aspects. Hence, I was really skeptical about its success (despite being an ardent Taemint).

be intimidated by their zombie moves

The Song
At first glance, the song seems like a perfect remake of Sherlock and Dream Girl. It is a fast-paced dance track accompanied by the distinct SHINee oomph, the constant interchanging of lines between members, some punchlines here and there, and finally some more rap lines.

However, upon deeper listening, I noticed how drastically different Why So Serious is. While Sherlock is about being detectives and finding clues while Dream Girl describes the dream girl that they have, Why So Serious is in a sense much more sophisticated because it utilises 2 contrasting themes and blends them as one (as reflected through the vastly different 2 music sets used). On one end, the theme is edgy and punky, inserted with hipster adlibs, fierce black eyeliner, deadly glares and zombie-like dance moves. Yet on the other end, the theme is classy and polished, inserted with top hats and spotless white suits accompanied with pretty smiles and refined vocals.

do you see the hidden message?

Because there wasn’t Jonghyun’s solid vocals as lead singer to anchor the song, the remaining members took on more vocally challenging lines, most evidently in Taemin. Still, there was amazingly not much compromise on the musicality or energy level of the music video.

yes yes go ahead and party all you want

The Video
The storyline clearly has little significance, for the reason that it barely appeared in the video. A girl walks into a plain white office where SHINee works and they party together. Then a security guard comes along and peeps into the room just to see the girl partying by herself. Well, that kind of freaked me out at first. Perhaps this is related to the question Why So Serious, which asks the audience to not take this whole storyline seriously so that you won’t feel creeped out (like me) - my speculation.

we've got the moves baby

The Dance
SHINee is well known for their great team dancing. Sure enough, the dance here was precise, synchronized and effortless. Unfortunately, the only memorable moves were during the verses e.g. the zombie walking; the choreography to the chorus was pretty forgettable.

To Sum It All Up
Though initially skeptical, SHINee has proved that they are truly artists who are able to pull this off even without a member. Round of applause to them.