issue 19// vol 47

IZ*ONE offers their classic
sound once again

» ‘BLOOM*IZ’ Review

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

kek YY

ast month was a very busy month in

K-Pop—mini-albums and albums
appeared everywhere you looked.
Loona released mini-album called #,
Dreamcatcher released their first album
called Dystopia: The Tree of Language, BTS
released their next mini-album Map of the
Soul: 7, and IZ*ONE released BLOOM"IZ.

Originally, IZ*ONE was going to

 

release their album in November but
delayed it due to a controversy involving
the biggest summer show in South Korea
where the group was formed—Produce
101. (Yes, America’s Got Talent was not the
only major summer show that got into big
controversy last year.)

The results of the two most recent
seasons of the show (including Produce
48) were rigged long before voting for the
season finale even began. This means that
more AKB48 members could have been
in the group, and the music landscape for
both K-Pop and J-Pop would have been

drastically different today. Despite the
controversy, I still like the group because
they made a lot of great songs. Included

in their discography is one of the best
songs of last year, “Violeta,” which is dope.
The members are very fun, especially my
favourite member in the group, Ahn Yu-
jin—and my favourite Japanese member in
the group, Hitomi Honda.

BLOOM“IZ has a dreamy sound
throughout it and the instrumentals are
high quality. The hit single in the album is
“Fiesta’—it has Kim Min-ju starring as the
lead member, and this is the first time that

 

A book gone viral

» Was COVID-19 predicted by Dean Koontz?

Athena Little
Illustrator

 

Reo: a theory about coronavirus

as taken social media by storm. The
claims being that the American author
Dean Koontz had predicted the current
outbreak back in 1981. In the pictures
posted online, there is the cover of The Eyes
of Darkness along with a page from the
book that describes the virus. In another
picture, text shows both the year as well as
explaining pneumonia-like symptoms. So,
is this fact or fiction?

Koontz did write about a fictional
virus which had started in Wuhan, similar
to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the virus
itself differs greatly. The novel’s virus,
called Wuhan-4009, has an incubation
period of around four hours. According to
the World Health Organization (WHO),
the incubation period for COVID-19 is on
average five days—often in the range of one
to fourteen. While the real virus also has a
fatality rate “of roughly 1 percent” according
to The Guardian, Koontz’s Wuhan-400 has
a1oo percent fatality rate. That’s a pretty
stark difference.

 

Illustration by Athena Little

Eh Rw AA CO

either Jang Won-young or Sakura Miyawaki
are not in that role for the main hit. While
this song is not as great as “Violeta,” it is
still very dope. The chorus sounds and puts
the image of a fiesta in your mind, and |
would definitely jam to it. A lot of things
are happening in the music video of this
song; it is visually reminiscent of art house
cinema. Everyone in it looked well-dressed
and made-up, especially Miyawaki in this
instance. Throughout the music video, in
various outfits and cool scenes, she looks
very attractive.

Yujin and Honda had a lot of screen
time, and are heard a lot in the rest of
the songs on the album. All the members
had their spotlight moments in the
album. Another song in the album that
I like is entitled “So Curious.” It has a
cutesy sound which fits Honda and Nako
Yabuki’s personalities well. Some of the
songs on the album sounded a lot like
their other songs and had a difficult time
differentiating themselves.

“Ayayaya” sounded similar to
“Rumour,” and “Spaceship” sounded similar
to “Airplane.” There were also songs, such
as “Pink Blusher,” that sounded fantastic
during the verses... but did not wow me
during the chorus. In the first song “Eyes”
and the last song “Open Your Eyes,” the
group says their catchphrase “eyes on
me” when they introduce themselves.
BLOOM‘“IZ has everything that I would
expect from IZ*ONE and it is very exciting
that they are back. Now I cannot wait for
their next single—which will likely be a
Japanese single.

Avast difference is also noticed in
symptoms. Wuhan-4o0 is a toxin that
destroys brain tissue. COVID-19 ranges
from fever, pneumonia, coughing, and
other various breathing issues. More
intense cases may include kidney failure, or
death. Wuhan-400 is more of a biological
weapon, being much more severe and
deadly to anyone and everyone.

In trying to further this creepy
prediction, social media also offered
a page which read “In around 2020 a
severe pneumonia-like illness will spread
throughout the globe, attacking the lungs
and the bronchial tubes and resisting all
known treatments.” This passage in fact
does not come from The Eyes of Darkness,
but instead from the 2008 book End of
Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the
End of the World by American author Sylvia
Browne.

So, the claim that Dean Koontz had
somehow predicted the future with his
book is only a half truth. It may share
a few facts, such as country of origin,
or that it is a virus, but the description
otherwise shares no other currently known
similarities with the current COVID-19.