Turbulence and The Real
What we know so far: (See final Treasure recap in Zero: Fever Part.1 (Part 1) and the Diary Film recap in Zero: Fever Part. 1 (Part 2)) Ateez gathered as friends and spent time together in a warehouse where they sang, danced, and hung out. They became each others' support systems and encouraged each other to go after their dreams and escape the pressure the adult world was placing on them. A series of events occurred and the warehouse was locked up (by who we now know was Yeosang's father) and everyone was separated. That was when Hongjoong broke in and met Halajoong in a dream. He was gifted a Cromer and told about the other dimension where Halateez is from. (In that other dimension, Stirctland, the central government outlawed the arts and reduced people's emotions below a certain threshold in order to reduce crime. Halateez have become anarchists against the central government and have broken into their vault and stolen the Cromer. They used the Cromer to escape the central goverment, but Android Guardians were created to finally capture them. Halajoong used the Cromer to travel to our dimension to give it to Hongjoong.) The Cromer remained after he woke up and he used it to bring the boys back together again and then transported Ateez to Strictland. There they fought the Android Guardians and lost the Cromer while trying to save Wooyoung. They met the Grimes siblings who have told them about Strictland's central government and the resistance fighters, the Black Pirates. They split up to talk to Left Eye and discover where the Android Guardians' bunker was so they could retrieve the Cromer and to find the Grimes girl's stolen voice. While going after her voice, Jongho fell victim to the yellow smoke and started to hallucinate he was playing the same basketball game he was injured in, thinking he was experiencing déjà vu. Yeosang went after him and saved him from running off a cliff. They then returned to group and found the Grimes girl had retrieved her voice and Left Eye was saved from the yellow smoke illusion he was under and ready to take them to the Android Guardians' bunker, located in a gallery on an island. They traveled to the bunker and found Halateez locked in a glass prison and Android Guardians drunk off of burning people's happy memories. Halajoong asked the boys to put their hands agains the glass of their prison and transferred Halateez's black outfits to Ateez. He then asked them to flee before the Android Guardians woke up. As they were leaving, Yeosang found the Cromer but got caught by the Android Guardians. He was able to use the Cromer to send the boys back to their own dimension before smashing it and sealing himself in Strictland. Ateez found themselves back in their warehouse without Yeosang. They were distraught but then Yeosang's drone knocked on the warehouse door signaling he was still alive in Strictland.
Was anyone else completely blindsided by the release of Turbulence? I was not expecting another comeback so soon after Zero: Fever Part 3 and to release Turbulence before the album was EVERYTHING. Since I wasn't following the storyline yet, I was just enjoying the beautiful music and, of course, Mingi being a part of The Real.
Now that I am looking into the storyline, new diary entries are needed. Here they are from Zero: Fever Epilogue. As a reminder, I am going to summarize the entires instead of not directly quoting them.
Intro: A news article about a trio of men from the religious cult, Sciensalvar, who believe that "humans are the collection of energy and human concerns from an uncertain future can be resolved through science", breaking into the National Museum of Korea to steal a Mayan relic was released on the 10th. In the article, the reporter explains that Henry Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar, has frequently talked about the Mayan relic, an hourglass that imitates the moon's movement, and has mentioned that energy condensed inside of it will be the key to saving humanity.
San: Ateez had returned to the past, presumably because the time zone was twisted when Yeosang broke the Cromer. Yunho was trilled because his brother was alive again. San understood Yunho's feelings but felt bitter towards him due to the loss of Yeosang and their inability to return to him. They were in the warehouse when Seonghwa found the article about the attempted robbery of the Mayan relic. They have found a new Cromer!
Seonghwa: Hongjoong theorized, if there was a Cromer in the other dimension, it would be possible that there is a Cromer in their dimension. He wanted to find the Cromer and save Yeosang, however some of the members were agains the idea since they thought it was dangerous and illegal. Seonghwa reflected on how he would have reacted the same as the others in the past but now his top priority is saving Yeosang. He reminded the members of their decision to not be stuck in the past and they eventually agreed to steal the Cromer. Yuhno, however, wanted to stay behind because he couldn't leave his brother.
Jongho: Jongho was upset by Yunho's statement and went on a walk to calm down. Mingi joined him and talked to Jongho about how he respected Yunho's decision because when he thought he was going to lose his grandmother, everything felt meaningless to him and it would be even worse for Yunho since he already lost his brother once. Jongho remembered punching Mingi when he said their dreams were meaningless and was filled with regret. Mingi explained that he never really wanted to give up, but felt guilty that he was having a great time with the members while his grandmother was sick. After their discussion, Jongho chose to respect Yunho's choice.
Yunho: Yunho was spending time with his brother while the members were going after the Cromer. His brother mentioned how much Yunho had changed in the past two weeks as Yuhno massaged his leg. Yunho's brother was born with a dysfunctional right leg so his left leg had to do the majority of the work. They discussed how he might not have learned to play the guitar if the was born with two working legs so it might have been a blessing in disguise. They then turned on the TV and saw a news alert about Henry Jo breaking into the National Museum of Korea with hundreds of his believers and holding some boys who were trying to stop them from stealing the Mayan relic hostage. Yunho ran to his motorcycle and yelled at his brother to stay inside no matter what.
Wooyoung: Wooyoung was captured with Henry Jo pointing a knife at his throat. The members arrived to the museum at 4pm and split into two groups of three. They waited until closing time and planned to have one group distract the guards while the other stole the Cromer. However, their plan fell apart before they even entered the museum when Henry Jo and his minions in red exited the museum with the Cromer. The members stole a red blanket from a group of high school girls and used it to join the group and approach Henry Jo. When the reached him, Wooyoung was about to grab the Cromer when the police arrived and Henry Jo used him as a hostage.
Hongjoong: The police were threatening Henry Jo and the Sciensalvars to release the hostages or be shot. At that moment, a group of bikers began to circle the crowd and make the Sciensalvars nervous. Hongjoong saw a familiar sticker, 'ATEEZ YH' on the back of one of the bikes and recognized it as Yunho's bike. He knew Yunho's plan and shouted towards Wooyoung. Wooyoung snatched the cromer as Henry Jo tried to get his people under control and they ran and jumped on the bikes Henry Jo ran away alone while the poliece were trying to control the believers.
Mingi: Mingi shouted that he knew Yunho would come back while Hongjoong noticed a car coming up behind them. The motorcycles changed their directions to miss the car and they fell to the ground while the car flipped into the pedestrian walk, hitting some pedestrians. Yunho recognized his brother and rand towards him. His brother asked if it was 5:07, which it was, and told Yunho that his diary said he got hit by a car at 5:07. He apologized for reading Yunho's diary but he was acting weird and wanted to know why. He thought it was a lie but now knows it wasn't. Yunho told him they needed to get to a hospital, but his brother stopped him and told him he was not at fault for either time he was hit. He told Yunho he loved him and asked him not to live in the past and move on with his life. He then passed out. At that moment, Henry Jo exited the overturned car and began to run towards Wooyoung, who was holding the Cromer, with his knife. Yunho punched Henry Jo and shouted at Wooyoung to tun the Cromer. He did right as Henry Jo began coming after them again.
Yeosang: Yeosang has been in the glass prison without any light for what felt like an eternity. There were lines of Resistance fighters standing in front of his prison with their biological energy stolen covered in black fabric. Among them were the Grimes siblings. When the Cromer was broken, it emitted a light that caused the Grimes and Left Eye to run to the museaum. Left Eye was able to escape the Android Guardians but lost his right arm in the process, but the Grimes siblings weren't as lucky. Yeosang was in so much pain that he wished his emotions would be stolen or that the Android Guardians would just kill him. He then heard the sound of a trumpet and saw the Android Guardians who were guarding him, rush out. He heard a fight outside and started beating agains his glass prison pleading to be rescued. He was able to see men in black fedoras fighting against the Android Guardians behind the open door. A guy then came towards his glass room and pulled down his mask. Tears of relief burst out as he saw Seonghwa was there to rescue him.
Outro: In the underground hideout of the Resistance organization, 'Black Pirate', a signal came from an old small machine. Left Eye rushed to write down the code and hope gradually spread on his face. He shouted that they have come back. Cheers of 'Black Pirate' echoed through the hideout. On the paper read, "SAY MY NAME, ATEEZ."
We now know how the Fever and Treasure series connect!! So exciting!!
So looking at Turbulence now and knowing Yeosang was left in Strictland while the rest of the boys returned home, I think this song is meant to espress how they are feeling knowing Yeosang is missing. At this point in the story, they think he is dead. But we see the paper airplane on the desk Yeosang is sitting at and then we see Hongjoong find a paper airplane. At that point, he starts running and around the same time Wooyoung does too. I think this is meant to symbolize them finding Yeosang’s drone and knowing he is still alive in Strictland. The paper airplane is representing the drone. Them knowing he is still alive gives them renewed hope and makes them want to run towards him. At least that is what I think the music video is portraying.
Making of and Reaction to Turbulence:
In the making of, Hongjoong says, “Earlier, I walked a little bit on the bridge and expressed how I’m lost. This time, I’m lost around in the tunnel and caught a paper airplane and opend it and king of found a new way. A new way to hope? That’s what I tried to express.” (I think that aligns with my theory).
In the reaction video they talk about how the paper airplane starts the lights in Hongjoong scene and then those lights lead into the lights on the runway Wooyoung uses. He said they are the lights that set the direction = the paper airplane gave them their direction = the drone gave them their next mission, to save Yeosang. Yunho also talks about how after Hongjoong finds the airplane, the sun starts coming out in his, Seonghwa’s, and San's scenes (they have new hope). They also pointed out that the sun starts shining on Yeosang too. (Again, this aligns with my theory! I am getting better about doing this stuff on my own!)
Bookish Theories' Turbulence Theory:
My Takeaways
Turbulence describes the transition between youth and adulthood as a moment of turbulence that is difficult to navigate
This connects to the treasure series because without the fever of youth that drives us forward, you cannot get to the treasure as adults
In Thanxx they are sick and tired because the hate being asked what they want to do but in Turbulence, they are sick and tired because they honestly don't know
Each boy portrays a different stage of the same process: they are not facing the view initially since they are overwhelmed by the reality that surrounds them but each of them slowly turns around to facer their surroundings
Cinematography of the video has the other boys in a cold blue light while Yeosang is in a warm yellow light to signify him being stuck in Strictland and sending the paper airplane as a drone
I missed the stuff about the boy’s growing up and taking flight but I GOT THE PAPER AIRPLANE STUFF!!
Like I talked about in my first Treasure post, Ateez uses a lot of layers to talk to us. Layer 1 is the music videos themselves and I believe the Treasure series music videos were based on books:
Pirate King/Treasure = Treasure Island
Hala Hala/Say My Name = Jekyll and Hyde
Illusion/Wave = Peter Pan
Wonderland = Alice in Wonderland
The Fever seires music videos are based on movies:
Inception = Inception
Déjà Vu = The Matrix
Eternal Sunshine = Eternal Sunshine of the Spotliess Mind
The music video of The Real is also based on a movie = Volcano High
I learned about this from a music video reactor, PD from The Kulture Study. If you haven't already started watching his reactions, I HIGHLY recommend you do. He is incredibly insightful. PD talked all about how the music video is connected to Volcano High when he was reviewing the music video. I am adding the clip here so y'all can see his explanation:
Although PD is correct, I think it distracted me from thinking about how it connected to their overall storyline. So now I need to do that.
The most blatant thing is the fact that the classroom Yeosang is in during Turbulence is the same classroom Mingi is in for The Real. If we know the Yeosang is in Strictland during Turbulence, do we think this is when Ateez arrives back there? Also, Yeosang is separate from them for the majority of the music video. He is far away on that roof with the birds around him (which we know birds mean he is trapped). There is also the dance battle scene where he is seen watching by no one sees him. I think that this is referencing him being in Strictland while they are not. I think the part where the 4 hands join together and create that light that Yeosang sees referecs them using the Cromer to come back to Strictland to save Yeosang becuase he sees the light from his far off place and then joins them in the shipyard. From then on, he is in the dance scenes (becuase he has been saved and is back with his team).
Bookish Theories' The Real Theory:
My Takeaways
The Real is an homage to authenticity and what it really mens to be cool and to remind us to stay true to ourselves
The real coolness is being able to live out your passion and dreams without sacrificing what makes you who you truely are
Each faction in the music video represents a different quality that makes Ateez the group that it is: Hongjoong and Seonghwa = the tradition of humility and kindness, Jongho and Yunho = faith, loyalty, and belief (sometimes you need to be rebellious in order to honor your beliefs and Yuhno is a biker with his brother in the storyline), Wooyoung and San = passion and determination (San's bat says passion when it is on fire)
Mingi and Yeosang are the protagonists of the video. Mingi is reading a book about morality indicating he is able to rely on himself and doesn't need to join a group. His is the coolest because he embodies all of the values at once. He doesn't need to make noise to prove his point = "still waters run deep". Yeosang is a balancing force between the different factions. He is symbolizing a dove = peace
She spent less time talking about the overall storyline as well. Hmmm…I still think leaving Yeosang separate from everyone is important to the overall storyline. He does talk about being the “peace” character in the reaction video, but I still think they can’t have a main music video without a least touching on their storyline so I am sticking with my theory.
Now let's watch the music videos:
Final Thoughts
Back to the Diary Entries: We now know exactly how the Fever series connects to the Treasure series. Say My Name is how the diary ends and so we now know that the music video is them breaking out Yeosang of the Andriod Guardians' mesuem prison!! I can’t remember if I talked about this or not but the beeps at the begining of Say My Name is Ateez in morse code and then they talked about that in the diary!! I feel like we need to go back to all of the music videos and see exactly what Yeosang is doing in each video. I think that may be important. I guess I will need to do a full recap with all of the information I have been learning.
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