I absolutely HATE the way this whole album was promoted! There were waayyyy too many music videos, to the point that when the album released there were only 2 new songs! So many people weren't sure which song was the title track and as a result of the bad promotion, the whole album was brushed over!
Honestly only Mr Vampire should have been a prerelease and Born To Be should have been the title track. After releasing Born To Be mv then they could release the short videoes of their solos. Untouchable was a boring song and the music video did not help with that low budget. Untouchable should have just been a B-side.
@@choujimi If what I read was correct, JYP reportedly fired the entirety of DIV2 due to the performance of the Born To Be album and sent out warnings to the rest of the divisions to not fumble the groups they're managing. ITZY now has a whole new team managing and promoting them and they're slated for a November/December comeback (probably with LIA) so we'll see how their new staff performs.
Ughhhhh yes to all of this. They phoned it in so hard on the MVs for the group releases off that album and it's a shame because all three of the group singles they released were total bops.
Ngl, it wasn't until I watched one of Ryujin's fancams on Instagram and decided that the choreography was fun that I gave Mr. Vampire a real listen. It really is a fun and cute song. It just got lost amongst _all_ of the MVs dropped for the album. I didn't know if Born To Be, Untouchable, or Mr. Vampire was the title track, and didn't care because it was a bit overwhelming to have so many MVs dropped at once, including the solo clips. It's one of my favorite Itzy songs now, but it's sad I couldn't appreciate it upon release.
It would’ve done better if it was just released on its own but if I recall correctly; there were like two other singles released around the same time as per the new Kpop trend. It is an awesome song though.
now that i'm thinking abt it, the music video could've been so cute sighhh. could've mixed live action & animation (ie. niziu's heatris) with an art style similar to that of "the grim adventures of billy & mandy" and "growing up creepie". maybe mr. vampire is just a stranger they fell head over heels into a parasocial relationship with... the vampiric imagery could be the girls deliberately putting lipstick on their necks, fixing his coffin (aka his bed), & likening their loneliness to his reflection not showing. +they could have a shot of the girls floating behind him with huge heart eyes as he walks through his day & maybe we never see his face except in animation form
jyp REALLY made me side eye them this era. yes, the girls still need to comeback, but all of a sudden youre giving a 10 track album accompanied with a world tour AFTER lia goes on hiatus? you couldnt have gave AN EP like you do every time or better yet, a single album?! it makes me so incredibly frustrated - i know lia is definitely not leaving itzy but it just felt so disrespectful on so many different levels. to omit her presence from such a significant era of their careers with a whopping 3 group music videos and 5 solo music videos... i know her anxiety was probably serious for her to not be able to record in the mvs or even the other songs but its also terrible and lazy planning on jyps part. when lia comes back, theyre gonna have to re record, learn formations again, etc. why would u shoot urself in the foot like that?!
I definitely agree that the born to be album should've just been solos (and/or units). It really makes no sense for it to be a group release, without lia.., and splitting up the budget to 8 different mvs for a one album was just a bad idea. Also, not sure I really like the pre-releases for k-pop, specifically more than 1 as it all happens within a month (or max 2). The album cycle for k-pop is too short for it and compared to other markets, which release an album at most once a year, the multiple singles makes sense. Especially JYPE seems to not be able to fully flesh out their album concepts, which I don't even fully blame the creative teams since I can't imagine their fully staffed and paid adequately + not sure the division system works that well
Yeah! Pre-releases are a whole other problem that adds to this as well - it seems like a lot of people weren’t even aware of Mr. Vampire being a single, and the fact that it wasn’t streamable until a week after the music video released didn’t help. Born to Be had such an odd release strategy 😭
I couldn’t disagree more. We don’t know how long Lia is going to take to be ready to come back. Do you want Itzy to go on a hiatus for possibly years? A lot of people praised them for the Born to be album, so it is not like it hurt them. To make the group have a hiatus and only promote solo stuff while a hate train is going on (which was even more so before brown to be) would go horribly wrong. Not to forget that it would put pressure on Lia to get back, so Itzy doesn’t go down as a group. I think it is fair to argue about all the MVs and the marketing in general but in no way should a group go on a hiatus for years because one member needs a break. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lia and I hope she comes back soon but I don’t believe putting the group on hiatus would make her or the other members happy.
Finallyyyyy someone said it !! Mr Vampire deserved so much more, the song itself is really amazing, the concept is great. I really hope more people would hear it and start to go back to loving itzy. This song is experimental and really the song itzy needed in this time of their career. (Actually the whole album is all bops. It deserve more recognition). I heard that people said it’s originally the title track when lia is present in this comeback but they changed it because Lia is on hiatus. I hope when Lia comeback, they will do a version with Lia, and record a new music video with the vampire concept and storyline. Then, it could be amazing !! #justiceformrvampire
I think if Lia had been around during this album’s promotion, Mr. Vampire as a title track would absolutely KILL. the group’s vocal tone and energy without Lia worked better with Untouchable and Born to Be, and Mr. Vampire without Lia was just… harder to sell. Feels like a missed opportunity and like a track that was rushed out for their tour when it should have been thrown back into the vault and saved for a better time (ideally, one with Lia back for promotions) :(
I honestly hope the reason why they rushed is because they knew lia would be on hiatus very soon and lia does know her lines and choreography and they didn’t wanna spend too much time relearning the format. Like if you look at some of the choreography, it’s so obvious there’s a missing spot that it’s hard for me to believe lia is just not in the know. Kinda like how with twice, they can cover some aspects with reformatting but others you just can’t do. I just can’t wait for the dance performance where Lia is there, I miss her so much
I almost wish they held onto Mr. Vampire for their next title track. It's soooo good and really deserved it's time in the sun (and with all five members!)
I think that Mr Vampire really would've benefitted from having a stronger creative direction. The members look nice in their outfits but the fashion does nothing to elevate the concept and I feel like these are generic outfits that can be worn for any stage. Itzy have had no problem with making memorable outfits for past comebacks. E.g. Icy = highly saturated colours with bold prints to reflect the playful atmosphere of the MV and transparent vinyl and metallic fabrics to replicate the imagery of icy summer treats melting in the sun (think of the concept photos where the members hold lollies as a reference). Equally their recent MVs have been disappointing for me. I watched this video ages ago but I think that mera discussed the fact that what made Itzy's MVs so iconic is the fact that their MVs centered on the members having solo scenes that showcased their individuality and this has been absent lately. Lastly, I think that Mr Vampire would've been better suited as a halloween release as it would allow itzy to show a different side of themselves that also aligned with the experimental and playful nature of their discography similarly to red velvet's rbb, purple kiss' zombie or even twice's TT's campy horror concept. I believe that a release like this could redeem boy's like you, which seemed like a attempt of this concept that slightly missed the mark sonically unlike Mr Vampire. Also imagine itzy having an album with this release where Mr Vampire was the title track and its bsides were similar to Marionnette by Red Velvet and Funny valentine by Mimisamo, which have a bit of a gothic vibe.
icy was SUCH a strong era, it perfectly contrasted their youthful idgaf chic image and the saturation was perfecttt. the comic book pop art style was conceptually thought out and the solo shots highlighted all of their individual charms early on when they were still so new. like lias red dress high ponytail sneakers combo and ryujins pink hair throwing papers around followed by yejis iconic streetwear outfit badass-ism, yunas carefree nature and dancing on the rooftop and finally chaer's beautiful dance and confidence. the song complimented it perfectly because it was LOUD, it was energetic, it was saturated, it was summer, and you could HEAR THE COLORS. in my world a perfect mr vampire would be an ot5 era, only a single album, and the contrast in colors would be much more darker but the scenery would be light. there would be a storyline WITH a vampie or maybe even the girls all turning into vampires one by one
I feel like there's been a major lack of cohesiveness and continuity with ITZY conceptually. Their division seems to be all over the place with them. Also random thought but, I am personally drained from pre releases. I feel like it just kills all the hype behind a release and makes it less impactful. This is a trend in K-pop lately that I haven't been too keen on. Itzy just deserves so much better. I wish this comeback was thought out a little more carefully and thoroughly. Anyways stream Mr. Vampire
I really loved Mr. Vampire, ngl I wish it had been an actual tt instead of born to be/untouchable. I think Itzy going in a more melodic/chill route like this for title tracks would be super cool and make them stand out amongst the crowd of y2k and girl crush that is super popular rn.
Given the popularity of a certain video game (Baldur’s Gate 3) featuring a well liked vampire companion, had the song had better promotion I’d imagine there’d be a lot of edits using this song featuring him
This has to be one of their best songs and it's certainly one of my favorites in kpop as a whole. This album should have been so good, but the promotions just did not do it justice.
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS i get so caught up on what certain releases could’ve been if concepts, music videos and general production and promotion were done better. oh how i would’ve loved to see a gothic vampire concept contrast with the soft sound of the song, i also would’ve loved to see lia participate in this song, her voice would’ve suited it alot in my opinion #justiceformrvampire
100% agree! I loved Mr. Vampire the most and was so sad it was promoted the way it was??? Could've absolutely been an itzy comeback song come September bc its such a GOOD standalone song. We were given crumbs!
Itzy is interesting for me to think about because I got into Kpop in September 2022, so the first thing I saw was the Sneakers fallout and Sneakers therefore became my primary reference point for Itzy. Honestly I don't get Itzy songs from Dalla Dalla to Not Shy that people who were there at the time really love. With all that being said, I think Mr. Vampire is a break from all of their other title tracks that really could've been a reset point if it were made more prominent. From the synth chirps to the lush piano that comes in with Chaeryeong's soft vocals, it sets itself apart. The fun chill flirtiness really works to the members' strengths throughout. I hope Mr. Vampire was a test run for a full cb oriented around a relaxed Itzy. I think a belted intense pre-chorus and bridge contrasted who chill verses and chorus would be a good blend.
Ever since ~2022 I feel like JYP just cuts so many corners when it comes to itzy and are LAZY, and doesn’t give them a proper traditional promotion ever since Sneakers era
I like the lighting setup in the parts of the MV where they were in the forest. I think a more cinematic, yet full Kpop experience (zoom-ins, crazy camera angles) with a more soft gothic style and gloomy vampire-esque castle set would have made the aesthetic drive the songs theme even further... but they still did a great job! I personally think they could pull off an all blonde concept in a old French era setting really well. Kinda random though. Just a dream I've had for them 😂
Great video 🥰. I get where you're coming from, the group singles on Born To Be end up feeling kinda shallow and half-baked in comparison to the solo songs, but I would say, I don't mind it as much, as all of the songs on their own are still great, they have bridges, they are all around the 3 minute mark and not much less and they really feel Itzy, so I don't have a problem for the MVs not beeing so flashed out, when there's literally 7 MVs. However, if we're talking about a different scenario, where this is just a solo album and we get the group songs in spring or summer, then I definitely agree with you, that would be a great concept for an MV and it's a shame that it wasn't done in this image. I really like when Itzy don't take themselves too seriously in their MVs, Boys Like You is not only one of my favourite Itzy songs, but also MVs, it is so funny and random, I just can't help but love it. But what I find more unfortunate is when the concept is executed well, but the song itself, not so much. I've been coming back to Enhypen's Bite Me, cause I'm going through my favourite boy group music and the song is so good, but end up feeling incredibly basic and shallow, when it ends after the second chorus, no bridge, no other verse, no finale and even no actual lines in the outro. Which makes it seem like 2 minutes and 20 seconds, that should be illegal and if you ask me, it damages the song way more than the light bright and fun songs Illit release. Magnetic still has a bridge or some kind of interlude section and a final chorus, Bite Me doesn't. Sorry for the rant, but it's just something I can't stand 😅
heck. I DEFO thought that mr. vampire was their way of getting themselves back into the fire of kpop, it was catchy and it was kinda different sounding compared to the songs around that time, so i hoped it'd do well but it was so badly promoted that it couldn't do well. :(
The Born to Be album was just amazing, definitely one of Itzy's best releases, but the promotions were the worst ones. Poorly planned and lazily executed. It was just a mess. Born to Be deserved so much better. JYPE is dropping the ball pretty hard.
I personally liked Itzy for their fun and distinctive style during Loco, Wannabe and so one, so I was really disappointed with Born to Be (though I had high hopes for this release) since visually this album was quite alike to Fe3O4 Break by Nmixx, so in my opinion they lost some of their identity, also the song Born to be was rather overwhelming to listen, and solo projects were sort of undone. The only song I like was Mr Vampire - it had some of the signature visual and sound style of Itzy rest of the album in my opinion lacked. Fun choreography, memorable sound and stuff.
as a non fan of Itzy, I've never heard of Itzy new 2024 releases and album and never heard Mr Vampire anywhere, so i had a glimpse of them, they're not bad but just not impactful enough, and Itzy definitely deserve better promotion and new fresh trendsetting songs
oh you’re just gonna skip over how wack the rollout was for the album, an almost week wait for the song to be on streaming services and they never thought about the song again
It should've been Born To Be as pre-release and Untouchable as title track. that's it, two music videos. the rest will be b-sides. the album title should've been Untouchable as well.
choujimi you have a very fascinating advocacy for singles that confuses me. at least, to me, it seems that whenever a group releases a single, we (general kpop fans) construe that as laziness, since they couldn't stretch it to be a mini, but for Mr. Vampire, and I believe earlier with (Twice? Aespa?) you mentioned wishing that they had released an incongruent but interestingly produced bside as a single. Do you see something in singles that the rest of us are blind to? Is your view just more utopian? Because when I think of groups releasing singles, I think of BugABoo and Everglow, flashes in the pan that are not weaved into a denser comeback or promotion schedule. I struggle to think that fans (including myself) would be more satiated by the BETTER promotion of a good song, than by the release of more good music.
I agree with your observation! Realistically, the issues (or lack thereof) people have with singles is subjective, and depends on how much importance the listener places on the release strategy of an album. Personally, I don’t mind singles if they make sense as to *why* they were singles. What that looks like can be very different, but my underlying expectation is that a single needs to have intention behind it: I want there to be an identifiable reason as to why it was chosen and given a music video, whether that be an interesting music video narrative, a compelling performance, or so-on. Mr. Vampire’s lack of intention, as the budget for the albums music videos seemingly went to the member solo videos, is why I think it deserved better. It’s a good song in my opinion, worthy of being promoted as a single, yet wasn’t given the time of day due to how it was released. Hopefully my point of view makes sense? My overall problem is that it doesn’t make sense as to why JYPE chose Mr. Vampire as a single if the concept wasn’t able to be expanded upon via the music video, etc.
“how do i make this video abt my ult group?” - me writing this comment bc i think what ur looking for with this release is better executed with “zombie” by purple kiss. lyrically, it’s the same - describing the insatiable hunger for someone as a metaphor for love, but the album & music video is kitschy, campy fun. the girls are selling weird foods, fighting zombies, & k*lling each other.
Imagine what could’ve been if div-2 (or 3? whichever it is) kept this second album group focused… I love every group track. They are fantastic imo. The solos on this album really take away from what is otherwise an album that’s fun but sure a little more mature/‘girlcrush’-y if you must. I actually think the album is quite pleasantly cohesive if you omit the solos 😭 why they keep having to do our girls dirty with the promo like this … 😭
I absolutely HATE the way this whole album was promoted! There were waayyyy too many music videos, to the point that when the album released there were only 2 new songs! So many people weren't sure which song was the title track and as a result of the bad promotion, the whole album was brushed over!
Born to Be being a pre-release, but also the name of the album didn’t help either 😭 what’s going on at JYPE I just need to talk to ITZY’s division
they shouldve just made mr vampire a prerelease/promoted bside and btb the title track, then untouchable can be a repackage or something
Honestly only Mr Vampire should have been a prerelease and Born To Be should have been the title track. After releasing Born To Be mv then they could release the short videoes of their solos. Untouchable was a boring song and the music video did not help with that low budget. Untouchable should have just been a B-side.
yea
@@choujimi If what I read was correct, JYP reportedly fired the entirety of DIV2 due to the performance of the Born To Be album and sent out warnings to the rest of the divisions to not fumble the groups they're managing. ITZY now has a whole new team managing and promoting them and they're slated for a November/December comeback (probably with LIA) so we'll see how their new staff performs.
As a casual fan i thought mr. Vampire was a bside and was kinda happy it even got a choreography video🤡
PREACH. Mr. V. Probably still in my top 10 of the year. This song SLAPS
Lia would've ATE Mr. Vampire
Mr. Vampire is literally my favorite Itzy song.
SAME
Mr. Vampire was the right song but at the wrong time
and did…. mr.vampire is still #1 in my heart 🫶🏾
Ughhhhh yes to all of this. They phoned it in so hard on the MVs for the group releases off that album and it's a shame because all three of the group singles they released were total bops.
I know 😭 I wish the group songs would’ve been a part of an album repackage or something, if it meant a better budget/time for promotion
Ngl, it wasn't until I watched one of Ryujin's fancams on Instagram and decided that the choreography was fun that I gave Mr. Vampire a real listen. It really is a fun and cute song. It just got lost amongst _all_ of the MVs dropped for the album. I didn't know if Born To Be, Untouchable, or Mr. Vampire was the title track, and didn't care because it was a bit overwhelming to have so many MVs dropped at once, including the solo clips. It's one of my favorite Itzy songs now, but it's sad I couldn't appreciate it upon release.
It would’ve done better if it was just released on its own but if I recall correctly; there were like two other singles released around the same time as per the new Kpop trend. It is an awesome song though.
what songs were they?
@@yyby_ Born To Be & Untouchable
now that i'm thinking abt it, the music video could've been so cute sighhh. could've mixed live action & animation (ie. niziu's heatris) with an art style similar to that of "the grim adventures of billy & mandy" and "growing up creepie". maybe mr. vampire is just a stranger they fell head over heels into a parasocial relationship with... the vampiric imagery could be the girls deliberately putting lipstick on their necks, fixing his coffin (aka his bed), & likening their loneliness to his reflection not showing.
+they could have a shot of the girls floating behind him with huge heart eyes as he walks through his day & maybe we never see his face except in animation form
Speak your truth on the budget on the music videos for this era!
If a video could be a hit tweet, this would be one!
jyp REALLY made me side eye them this era. yes, the girls still need to comeback, but all of a sudden youre giving a 10 track album accompanied with a world tour AFTER lia goes on hiatus? you couldnt have gave AN EP like you do every time or better yet, a single album?! it makes me so incredibly frustrated - i know lia is definitely not leaving itzy but it just felt so disrespectful on so many different levels. to omit her presence from such a significant era of their careers with a whopping 3 group music videos and 5 solo music videos... i know her anxiety was probably serious for her to not be able to record in the mvs or even the other songs but its also terrible and lazy planning on jyps part. when lia comes back, theyre gonna have to re record, learn formations again, etc. why would u shoot urself in the foot like that?!
I definitely agree that the born to be album should've just been solos (and/or units). It really makes no sense for it to be a group release, without lia.., and splitting up the budget to 8 different mvs for a one album was just a bad idea.
Also, not sure I really like the pre-releases for k-pop, specifically more than 1 as it all happens within a month (or max 2). The album cycle for k-pop is too short for it and compared to other markets, which release an album at most once a year, the multiple singles makes sense. Especially JYPE seems to not be able to fully flesh out their album concepts, which I don't even fully blame the creative teams since I can't imagine their fully staffed and paid adequately + not sure the division system works that well
Yeah! Pre-releases are a whole other problem that adds to this as well - it seems like a lot of people weren’t even aware of Mr. Vampire being a single, and the fact that it wasn’t streamable until a week after the music video released didn’t help. Born to Be had such an odd release strategy 😭
I couldn’t disagree more. We don’t know how long Lia is going to take to be ready to come back. Do you want Itzy to go on a hiatus for possibly years? A lot of people praised them for the Born to be album, so it is not like it hurt them. To make the group have a hiatus and only promote solo stuff while a hate train is going on (which was even more so before brown to be) would go horribly wrong. Not to forget that it would put pressure on Lia to get back, so Itzy doesn’t go down as a group. I think it is fair to argue about all the MVs and the marketing in general but in no way should a group go on a hiatus for years because one member needs a break. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lia and I hope she comes back soon but I don’t believe putting the group on hiatus would make her or the other members happy.
Finallyyyyy someone said it !! Mr Vampire deserved so much more, the song itself is really amazing, the concept is great. I really hope more people would hear it and start to go back to loving itzy. This song is experimental and really the song itzy needed in this time of their career. (Actually the whole album is all bops. It deserve more recognition). I heard that people said it’s originally the title track when lia is present in this comeback but they changed it because Lia is on hiatus. I hope when Lia comeback, they will do a version with Lia, and record a new music video with the vampire concept and storyline. Then, it could be amazing !! #justiceformrvampire
I think if Lia had been around during this album’s promotion, Mr. Vampire as a title track would absolutely KILL. the group’s vocal tone and energy without Lia worked better with Untouchable and Born to Be, and Mr. Vampire without Lia was just… harder to sell. Feels like a missed opportunity and like a track that was rushed out for their tour when it should have been thrown back into the vault and saved for a better time (ideally, one with Lia back for promotions) :(
I honestly hope the reason why they rushed is because they knew lia would be on hiatus very soon and lia does know her lines and choreography and they didn’t wanna spend too much time relearning the format. Like if you look at some of the choreography, it’s so obvious there’s a missing spot that it’s hard for me to believe lia is just not in the know. Kinda like how with twice, they can cover some aspects with reformatting but others you just can’t do. I just can’t wait for the dance performance where Lia is there, I miss her so much
I almost wish they held onto Mr. Vampire for their next title track. It's soooo good and really deserved it's time in the sun (and with all five members!)
I think that Mr Vampire really would've benefitted from having a stronger creative direction.
The members look nice in their outfits but the fashion does nothing to elevate the concept and I feel like these are generic outfits that can be worn for any stage. Itzy have had no problem with making memorable outfits for past comebacks. E.g. Icy = highly saturated colours with bold prints to reflect the playful atmosphere of the MV and transparent vinyl and metallic fabrics to replicate the imagery of icy summer treats melting in the sun (think of the concept photos where the members hold lollies as a reference).
Equally their recent MVs have been disappointing for me. I watched this video ages ago but I think that mera discussed the fact that what made Itzy's MVs so iconic is the fact that their MVs centered on the members having solo scenes that showcased their individuality and this has been absent lately.
Lastly, I think that Mr Vampire would've been better suited as a halloween release as it would allow itzy to show a different side of themselves that also aligned with the experimental and playful nature of their discography similarly to red velvet's rbb, purple kiss' zombie or even twice's TT's campy horror concept. I believe that a release like this could redeem boy's like you, which seemed like a attempt of this concept that slightly missed the mark sonically unlike Mr Vampire.
Also imagine itzy having an album with this release where Mr Vampire was the title track and its bsides were similar to Marionnette by Red Velvet and Funny valentine by Mimisamo, which have a bit of a gothic vibe.
I really like the Halloween album idea! Mr. Vampire would’ve been a perfect album concept for songs like Marionette to be under
icy was SUCH a strong era, it perfectly contrasted their youthful idgaf chic image and the saturation was perfecttt. the comic book pop art style was conceptually thought out and the solo shots highlighted all of their individual charms early on when they were still so new. like lias red dress high ponytail sneakers combo and ryujins pink hair throwing papers around followed by yejis iconic streetwear outfit badass-ism, yunas carefree nature and dancing on the rooftop and finally chaer's beautiful dance and confidence. the song complimented it perfectly because it was LOUD, it was energetic, it was saturated, it was summer, and you could HEAR THE COLORS.
in my world a perfect mr vampire would be an ot5 era, only a single album, and the contrast in colors would be much more darker but the scenery would be light. there would be a storyline WITH a vampie or maybe even the girls all turning into vampires one by one
I feel like there's been a major lack of cohesiveness and continuity with ITZY conceptually. Their division seems to be all over the place with them. Also random thought but, I am personally drained from pre releases. I feel like it just kills all the hype behind a release and makes it less impactful. This is a trend in K-pop lately that I haven't been too keen on. Itzy just deserves so much better. I wish this comeback was thought out a little more carefully and thoroughly. Anyways stream Mr. Vampire
I really loved Mr. Vampire, ngl I wish it had been an actual tt instead of born to be/untouchable. I think Itzy going in a more melodic/chill route like this for title tracks would be super cool and make them stand out amongst the crowd of y2k and girl crush that is super popular rn.
The intro has me rolling
i love chaeryeongs opening line in the beginning, her voice sounds soooo good
I could really hear Lia in Mr. Vampire so for her not to be on it made me sad. She’d definitely have a “bite me, bite you” line
SUCH a good song! JYP come on - we could have had such a cool video!
Given the popularity of a certain video game (Baldur’s Gate 3) featuring a well liked vampire companion, had the song had better promotion I’d imagine there’d be a lot of edits using this song featuring him
mr. vampire should have had an mv like hush rush from chaeyeon
This has to be one of their best songs and it's certainly one of my favorites in kpop as a whole. This album should have been so good, but the promotions just did not do it justice.
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS i get so caught up on what certain releases could’ve been if concepts, music videos and general production and promotion were done better.
oh how i would’ve loved to see a gothic vampire concept contrast with the soft sound of the song, i also would’ve loved to see lia participate in this song, her voice would’ve suited it alot in my opinion #justiceformrvampire
100% agree! I loved Mr. Vampire the most and was so sad it was promoted the way it was??? Could've absolutely been an itzy comeback song come September bc its such a GOOD standalone song. We were given crumbs!
Itzy is interesting for me to think about because I got into Kpop in September 2022, so the first thing I saw was the Sneakers fallout and Sneakers therefore became my primary reference point for Itzy. Honestly I don't get Itzy songs from Dalla Dalla to Not Shy that people who were there at the time really love.
With all that being said, I think Mr. Vampire is a break from all of their other title tracks that really could've been a reset point if it were made more prominent. From the synth chirps to the lush piano that comes in with Chaeryeong's soft vocals, it sets itself apart. The fun chill flirtiness really works to the members' strengths throughout.
I hope Mr. Vampire was a test run for a full cb oriented around a relaxed Itzy. I think a belted intense pre-chorus and bridge contrasted who chill verses and chorus would be a good blend.
Ever since ~2022 I feel like JYP just cuts so many corners when it comes to itzy and are LAZY, and doesn’t give them a proper traditional promotion ever since Sneakers era
I like the lighting setup in the parts of the MV where they were in the forest. I think a more cinematic, yet full Kpop experience (zoom-ins, crazy camera angles) with a more soft gothic style and gloomy vampire-esque castle set would have made the aesthetic drive the songs theme even further... but they still did a great job! I personally think they could pull off an all blonde concept in a old French era setting really well. Kinda random though. Just a dream I've had for them 😂
Just saw them on tour, they were fantastic and I really liked the staging for Mr. Vampire
This song and album is INCREDIBLE
Great video 🥰. I get where you're coming from, the group singles on Born To Be end up feeling kinda shallow and half-baked in comparison to the solo songs, but I would say, I don't mind it as much, as all of the songs on their own are still great, they have bridges, they are all around the 3 minute mark and not much less and they really feel Itzy, so I don't have a problem for the MVs not beeing so flashed out, when there's literally 7 MVs.
However, if we're talking about a different scenario, where this is just a solo album and we get the group songs in spring or summer, then I definitely agree with you, that would be a great concept for an MV and it's a shame that it wasn't done in this image. I really like when Itzy don't take themselves too seriously in their MVs, Boys Like You is not only one of my favourite Itzy songs, but also MVs, it is so funny and random, I just can't help but love it.
But what I find more unfortunate is when the concept is executed well, but the song itself, not so much. I've been coming back to Enhypen's Bite Me, cause I'm going through my favourite boy group music and the song is so good, but end up feeling incredibly basic and shallow, when it ends after the second chorus, no bridge, no other verse, no finale and even no actual lines in the outro. Which makes it seem like 2 minutes and 20 seconds, that should be illegal and if you ask me, it damages the song way more than the light bright and fun songs Illit release. Magnetic still has a bridge or some kind of interlude section and a final chorus, Bite Me doesn't.
Sorry for the rant, but it's just something I can't stand 😅
I ADORE THIS SONG. That's the song that got me into this group. It's so addicting, so fun, and I wish there was more push behind it
I'm telling you mr vampire will have a resurgence at some point, because that song is too good just to be a underrated and more niche bop!
A Mr. Vampire renaissance is what the kpop community deserves 🙏🙏
heck. I DEFO thought that mr. vampire was their way of getting themselves back into the fire of kpop, it was catchy and it was kinda different sounding compared to the songs around that time, so i hoped it'd do well but it was so badly promoted that it couldn't do well. :(
Born to be, Mr Vampire and Untouchable are such a strong lineup of songs. But the visuals of jyp lately have been so dispointing.
Hmm, let me go put Mr. Vampire on replay now 😄🖤
it is sch a fun song too. i put it on repeat when it was out
The intro--😭😭😭
No truer words were said.
The Born to Be album was just amazing, definitely one of Itzy's best releases, but the promotions were the worst ones. Poorly planned and lazily executed. It was just a mess. Born to Be deserved so much better. JYPE is dropping the ball pretty hard.
This is easily in my top 5 kpop songs, Mr. Vampire DID deserve better
I love your videos!! I appreciate your opinions and how you’re logical, and appreciate other people’s opinions, it’s rlly nice to see that!
LOUDER! we need people to open their eyes.
The mv could have been so much better and its not like jyp couldnt put out money for all mvs they fumbled this so bad
I know 😭 ITZY deserves a better budget for any kind of music video they’re going to do
I personally liked Itzy for their fun and distinctive style during Loco, Wannabe and so one, so I was really disappointed with Born to Be (though I had high hopes for this release) since visually this album was quite alike to Fe3O4 Break by Nmixx, so in my opinion they lost some of their identity, also the song Born to be was rather overwhelming to listen, and solo projects were sort of undone.
The only song I like was Mr Vampire - it had some of the signature visual and sound style of Itzy rest of the album in my opinion lacked. Fun choreography, memorable sound and stuff.
im a casual listener and i was so ?? when i saw that the mv or looks had nothing relating to the song being called MR. VAMPIRE like damn
as a non fan of Itzy, I've never heard of Itzy new 2024 releases and album and never heard Mr Vampire anywhere, so i had a glimpse of them, they're not bad but just not impactful enough, and Itzy definitely deserve better promotion and new fresh trendsetting songs
Speaking about born to be group Mv’d I’m so PISSED untouchable DIDNT get a memorable Mv!
Mr vampire is one of few itzy songs that I actually listen to
amazing video, i agree with everything you said
lol the intro
i loved loved loved this album but the way this whole project was promoted makes me so mad
oh you’re just gonna skip over how wack the rollout was for the album, an almost week wait for the song to be on streaming services and they never thought about the song again
IT IS QUITE LITERALLY MY FAVORITE ITZY SONG ARHGHAGHFGDHKLFGKH
I really wanted this song to be huge
It should've been Born To Be as pre-release and Untouchable as title track. that's it, two music videos. the rest will be b-sides. the album title should've been Untouchable as well.
choujimi you have a very fascinating advocacy for singles that confuses me. at least, to me, it seems that whenever a group releases a single, we (general kpop fans) construe that as laziness, since they couldn't stretch it to be a mini, but for Mr. Vampire, and I believe earlier with (Twice? Aespa?) you mentioned wishing that they had released an incongruent but interestingly produced bside as a single. Do you see something in singles that the rest of us are blind to? Is your view just more utopian? Because when I think of groups releasing singles, I think of BugABoo and Everglow, flashes in the pan that are not weaved into a denser comeback or promotion schedule. I struggle to think that fans (including myself) would be more satiated by the BETTER promotion of a good song, than by the release of more good music.
I agree with your observation! Realistically, the issues (or lack thereof) people have with singles is subjective, and depends on how much importance the listener places on the release strategy of an album.
Personally, I don’t mind singles if they make sense as to *why* they were singles. What that looks like can be very different, but my underlying expectation is that a single needs to have intention behind it: I want there to be an identifiable reason as to why it was chosen and given a music video, whether that be an interesting music video narrative, a compelling performance, or so-on.
Mr. Vampire’s lack of intention, as the budget for the albums music videos seemingly went to the member solo videos, is why I think it deserved better. It’s a good song in my opinion, worthy of being promoted as a single, yet wasn’t given the time of day due to how it was released.
Hopefully my point of view makes sense? My overall problem is that it doesn’t make sense as to why JYPE chose Mr. Vampire as a single if the concept wasn’t able to be expanded upon via the music video, etc.
jype's promotion is so.... jype of them
“how do i make this video abt my ult group?” - me writing this comment bc i think what ur looking for with this release is better executed with “zombie” by purple kiss. lyrically, it’s the same - describing the insatiable hunger for someone as a metaphor for love, but the album & music video is kitschy, campy fun. the girls are selling weird foods, fighting zombies, & k*lling each other.
+the album weirdly feels like it takes place during a zombie apocalypse on halloween night. idk how to describe it.
Imagine what could’ve been if div-2 (or 3? whichever it is) kept this second album group focused… I love every group track. They are fantastic imo. The solos on this album really take away from what is otherwise an album that’s fun but sure a little more mature/‘girlcrush’-y if you must.
I actually think the album is quite pleasantly cohesive if you omit the solos 😭 why they keep having to do our girls dirty with the promo like this … 😭
YES
We demand Born to be ( ITZYOT5 version).
Who was that first clip about the song for the streets?
They're stylish vampires lol
I thought untouchable was the title track whoops
Mafia in the morning is a bad song. It should of been a b side, not a title track.
The more I love JYP artists the more I HATE the company...... These are Talented people being WASTED by the company's constant mismanagement.