Updated with more pictures & blurbs [260916]
It’s no secret that I’ve slipped back into the kpop trash life lately. Specifically the EXO trash life. I’m no stranger to this, back in 2012 I stanned BIGBANG pretty hard, but I never really liked them as much as I like EXO now. EXO didn’t interest me AT ALL back in 2012 (granted I was such a YG elitist back then), but I think it’s safe to say that they’ve improved a lot since then? They try to do different styles of music every comeback and if anybody told me in 2014 there’s a kpop track that sounds eerily similar to a Disclosure track, I would laugh so hard in their face. But. EXO released Artificial Love y’all. And it’s totally a Disclosure track omg.
Anyway, after stanning a group comes the obligatory step: stanning a member. And that member is Kai aka Kim Jongin. And. I love this guy so much. Ask me why and I’ll give you a 5 page essay on it but to summarize: he’s an amazing dancer who looks like a sex god on stage. Off stage though, he’s an adorable ball of fluff who doesn’t know how to use instagram and applied nail polish on his mouth because he thought it was lip balm. This is merely scratching the surface ok there are a loooot more reasons why he is my ult. I’ll let this gif do the talking. Look at him take a complete 180 from hot to adorable in under ten seconds.
Aghhh I just love him so much. So much, that I even started buying photobooks from his fansites.
If you’re not familiar with photobooks and fansites, here are a few facts about them: fansites follow (is it too harsh to say stalk?) a certain member from a group and take pictures of ‘em. Then usually they compile those pics, package them as photobooks, and sell them to fans both in Korea and worldwide. That’s one of the ways a fansite earn money to buy tickets across the globe and follow their bias. Some fansites take better pictures than others, and the more popular the member, the more fansites they have. Some of the Kai fansites I know are Motion Picture Soundtrack (MPST), Mr. Destiny, KNK, OAOKAI, MLGC, XSCAPE, J-GRAVITY, and KAIRISM. Kai has tons of other fansites ofc but these are the ones that stand out to me. So. Today I want to talk about MLGC aka Much Like God Child. Their third photobook, to be exact.
The complete set – minus two posters
Their photobook is titled ‘The God’s Child’, and I think it’s the only Kai photobook that is set in landscape? (do correct me if I’m wrong on this). That’s the only reason I bought this set honestly. All the other photobooks I have are in portrait.
So first, let’s talk about the most important part: the photobook itself.
Front cover
Spine
Back cover, basically the front cover flipped upside down
The cover’s pretty good, honestly. But I would prefer it more if they used a different image for the back cover, the DVD cover, the DVD booklet, and the bonus map. It got a little repetitive and while the image itself is good, a little variety would do the set wonders.
The moment I realized that this photobook came in a landscape format, I immediately wanted to buy it. Why? Because landscape format means more close up shots of Jongin! (I also watched an unboxing video on youtube to confirm it. And yep, it is indeed filled with close ups). Here are a few of my favourite spreads:
Not gonna lie the moment I knew this two photos were in the book I was convinced that I need to buy it. It’s Jongin’s best airport look hands down, I will fight you on this.
See? the landscape format works really well for these type of shots, right?
On to the merch!
I loved the photocards. There’s a lot of variety in it, with two landscape formats too! I think the size of these photocards are just right. Idk why but some fansites make really small photocards (see: KNK, MPST), but kudos to MLGC for doing them right this time.
A Jongin standee! now I can work all night on my desk with Jongin staring at me lol
The obligatory fan. I don’t really care for the design though. It’s cute and all but I’d prefer a photo of Jongin instead.
4 disc DVDs, containing Jongin fancams from debut era (2012) to Exoluxion era (2015). I was really happy with these because I wasn’t in the EXO fandom back in 2012, it was pretty cool to watch some of their older performances (and with a Jongin focus, too!). It also comes with a mini photobook, and it’s basically just to give us the DVD tracklist. It’s really pretty, as you can see below.
There were also four art prints!
Here are some of the other merch: a folder map (with the same design as the photobook cover), an anti-electromagnetic wave sticker, and a normal sticker (which idk what it actually is? I assume it’s similar to the fan design. But i haven’t actually opened it up to check.)
And last but not least, the posters!
I think we’ve pretty much covered all of it. Here are some of my positive & negative thoughts on this set:
(+)
- The landscape format worked really, really well with the close up shots of Jongin. I’m not too familiar with MLGC, but if they were more inclined to take these type of shots then producing this photobook on a landscape format is definitely the right decision.
- The DVDs were really comprehensive! It spanned 4 years and the quality is pretty good for a fancam.
- I like MLGC’s color correcting. The colors pop out and makes the whole photobook really vibrant. Also, the photocards came out really good too!
- I appreciate that MLGC put out an effort and made the mini photobook for the DVD. I mean, when you think about it, it was only to give us the tracklist. You can achieve that with a simple description on the DVD case. I loved that they made it an especially pretty one, too.
(-)
- MLGC’s photo quality is just okay. It’s better than a lot of other Kai fansites but there’s really nothing… unique about their photos? Their editing is good, but it doesn’t stand out either.
- I’ve mentioned this before, but the use of the same image over and over again (pb cover, DVD case cover, DVD mini photobook, folder map) makes the whole set pretty underwhelming? Esp if you compare it with other fansites’ photobook where they usually went all out in designing their covers & merch.
- I’m not really a fan of the editing on the art prints. This is a personal preference, though.
- Also not a fan of the fan (lol) & sticker design.
- The photos they chose for the posters were great, but I don’t really like glossy posters. Maybe this is why I don’t like the art prints either?
To summarize: the landscape format is what makes this photobook. I doubt I’ll buy this if it came out in the standard portrait format. But overall it’s a pretty worthwhile photobook to have. I love the DVD. And I will never stop mentioning the landscape format!! it gives the fans more close up shots of Jongin and in the end, what Jongin fan would complain?
4/5