For those of you who might not know it, it has become a trend for groups to do these trilogies where they sort of work around a concept or story line throughout 3 of their releases, be it a full album or mini album or just a single. So Monsta X has also joined this trend, but they're being hipster about it and making it a 2.5 project (but basically it will still have 3 parts, so yeah).
They have released the first part which is The Clan part 1 : LOST. I became a fan just slightly before this comeback so it was really interesting for me. They came back with the title song All In. On music shows the song they promote before All In during the comeback week was Ex-Girl, which actually features Whee In from MAMAMOO but she didn't promote it live with them.
Enough boring stuff, let's talk about the MV! The MV is what actually makes this project really interesting, as it has a story line. I'll try not to go into details on the MV, but it's really interesting to see all these people making up their theories and all. Do watch the MV first, it'll help you a lot : click here
So basically, Monsta X are in this dystopian setting, where the society are being oppressed. Monsta X are these group of friends (some might say some of them are brothers, but we can't know that for sure) who are against the officials in power. However, Hyungwon is actually the son (or nephew, I prefer son though) of one of the officers in charge. His father then gets angry at him for being involved in actions against the people in charge and so smacks him in front of the rest of Monsta X. We later find out that he gets beaten up badly at home. Minhyuk discovers this and got very upset and angry. He then got together with Wonho and IM and they burned down the building which could be the building of the officials, including Hyungwon's father.
On the other side of the MV, we have Shownu. Shownu has an old relative who is in a really bad shape. He wants to help the relative, but doesn't have any money. In comes Jooheon who then persuades Shownu to join him in robbing a bank. Wait, aren't they supposed to be the good guys here? Exactly. They're not exactly good guys, but it's for a good cause. Shownu was really desperate for the money. But when he did get them, the relative has already gone, probably passed away. Feeling devastated, he burns the money and proceeds to drink the vial of blue liquid.
About the vial of blue liquid, apparently Monsta X are not just a group of friends, they're a clan. They have X tattoos on their bodies and when gathered around the fire they have these face paintings. They have this blue flower (most say it's delphinium) where they make drinks out of it. I'm saying drinks because while it seems like potion most of the times, there are people who argue that they could be poison too. So this blue concoction, they gather around and make it and they seem really high when drinking them. Jooheon seems to be the master behind this as he's the one mixing them and making weird gestures in the center of their circle.
So these vials of blue liquid, Shownu drinks it when devastated. Continuing Hyungwon and Minhyuk's story, after burning the building Minhyuk went to find Hyungwon, only to discover that he has drowned himself (in a bathtub no less lol). Minhyuk then pours the vial of blue liquid into the tub, and then lies down beside Hyungwon (in the really small tub so they're really close to each other woo) and holds his hand. We then see that Hyungwon's hand moved to squeeze Minhyuk's. So what exactly happened? Is Hyungwon not dead? Is Minhyuk dead? Did the blue liquid have some magical power to bring back the dead or something?
In another scene too, we see Monsta X in some sort of military uniforms, but it's white and running away from something or someone. These clips are like from a different timeline because it seems detached from the other story line. Kihyun also seem to be walking and running just fine so it's really weird. In one of the scene, Hyungwon seems to be passed out under a bridge. Dead or not. we don't know, but then Minhyuk proceeds to feed him the blue flower. So what exactly is the blue flower's power?
Another interesting case is Kihyun. Kihyun apparently has trouble walking and is seen with crutches. But in one scene he seems to be going somewhere and is really struggling. He then throws the crutches and drags himself to somewhere. This is one of my favorite scenes.
At the end of the MV, we see Monsta X in their white uniforms going through the forest to find some weird pulsing thing in the sky. Seriously, that's the best way for me to describe it. The important thing to note is that the pulsing thingy has the same shade as the blue flowers. So what exactly have I watched?
Since this is just the first part, there's a lot of things that are unexplained. What exactly is the flowers' properties? Did anybody die? What's the story behind Kihyun's crutches? What is the relationship between Hyungwon and Minhyuk? And Kihyun and IM? What about Wonho's and Jooheon's story? What is the weird pulsing thingy at the end? Why are they in military uniform and what are they running away from? Hopefully all of these will be answered in part 2, which will probably be out in October. OMG CAN'T WAIT.
Here's my assumptions on some of those questions. The flower, I'm not sure, but it definitely has healing properties. Is it able to bring back the dead? Was Hyungwon even dead? No idea. Hyungwon and Minhyuk seem really close in the MV and they look like they're in love but this is South Korea we're talking about. I think they're still not very open about LGBT but Starship has recently being playing around with some of these kind of scenes, where they seem to be in love. So yeah, I guess it's up to you if you want to view them as a couple or not. My fangirl heart wants to say they are, but Hyungwonho's my OTP... XD
They can also be really close friends though, because come on, you can still love your best friend in a platonic way and want to sacrifice yourself for them right? (Though getting into the small bathtub and holding their hand might be a bit over the top...) What I mean by sacrificing yourself is because there is a theory where Minhyuk pours the vial and sort of exchanges his soul for Hyungwon, hence seeing Hyungwon's hand moving but not Minhyuk. It could happen but still, we don't know about the flower's power.
Kihyun, IM, Wonho and Jooheon's story, I'll look forward in the next part. Kihyun and IM have a scene where they seem really close too but it was just one scene so yeah, looking forward to that too. Hopefully there would be more explanation about the weird pulsing thingy too. The placed a lot of emphasis on the colors of the flowers so I was expecting their hair to have streaks of it or something but apparently it didn't happen.
Which reminds me THEY HAVE ALREADY DYED THEIR HAIR FOR THE COMEBACK! I was so surprised because I did not expect it at all and then suddenly everyone's screaming about how comeback is in the air. It's a great feeling. While we're at it I might as well talk about their hairstyles.
Shownu's hair is short and black now. It's not really different from before, just shorter and it looks good. My favorite hair for Shownu would be during... anything but Rush lol. His hair doesn't really change much honestly, at least not drastically.
Wonho's hair is a mystery. In some pics they look pretty much the same but in some other pics they seem grayish, and even blueish in some. Meh. My favorite hair for him is during Hero, he looks so freaking hot. A lot of people liked him blonde but I prefer Hero era.
 |
| What color is that? |
 |
| If only the baristas or waiters here are as hot as he is... |
Minhyuk gave me a heart attack. HIS HAIR IS DARK BROWN/BLACK. You know the moment when an idol who has had a lot of different colored hair suddenly goes black? It's a historical moment. I love these moments. Minhyuk has been blonde from debut and now he has dark hair. It is amazing, I freaking love it. He had dark hair pre-debut but it wasn't that awesome. Anyway my favorite hair for Minhyuk would definitely be during Stuck, I mean he owned that white hair. I might have cried a lil bit inside knowing the white hair's gone now but you know what? Cry a river, build a bridge, get over it and look forward to dark haired Minhyuk cos so far he still looks fine as heck.
 |
| I hate you Lee Minhyuk |
 |
| White hair was made for him |
 |
| Bonus : Rainbow pastel colored |
Kihyun is also another person who gave me a heart attack. HIS HAIR IS PINK! I kinda have mixed feelings over it, I mean he still looks fine. But why pink? What are they trying to achieve with it? He still looks great and looks really cute and young, especially in the performance because he's short too keke. My favorite hair for Kihyun would be... All In? When it's styled up he looks really hot.
 |
| He looks adorable really |
 |
| His hair is windswept here but yeah I like it |
Hyungwon's hair is light brown. Hmm.. I'm not really digging it. He doesn't look bad but because I've seen him with better hair. I'm hoping they would change the style for the comeback maybe? My favorite hair for Hyungwon would be during Hero or All In, when it's styled up. Blonde during Rush wasn't so bad either, he looked like a good-looking punk.
 |
| Why is he so beautiful? |
 |
| Sassy in black |
 |
 |
| My favorite so far lol |
 |
| You look sexy with your hair pushed back |
 |
| Love the red tint |
 |
| Grandpa XD |
 |
| You sure he's the maknae? |
 |
| Okay now he's the maknae |
You can obviously tell I'm pretty biased from the pictures. I'm sorry I couldn't find a lot of HD ones and it's really difficult to find a picture from a specific era through this page I'm always using.
Bottom line is : Stan Monsta X! They're having a comeback soon so now is the time to get to know them!
