“Boo Seungkwan’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” (YouTube channel 117)
Song Hooryeong: Talk shows built around a natural-feeling back-and-forth between the host and their guests have become one of the defining formats on YouTube, which is probably why the most valuable quality in a YouTube talk show is just being a great conversation partner and genuinely good company. With “Boo Seungkwan’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo,” SEVENTEEN member SEUNGKWAN steps into his first solo hosting role, drawing a good, fun conversation out of every guest thanks to his characteristic bright charm.

Whoever he’s talking to and whatever the topic at hand, SEUNGKWAN attentively finds the rhythm of the conversation and gets himself on his guest’s wavelength. He can spin a falling-out with actor Moon Sangmin over a doubles badminton match into a story like a seasoned comedian, and dance to girl group choreography in front of volleyball legend Kim Yeon Koung without missing a beat. It’s that kind of brazen behavior that turns ordinary small talk into something exciting and unforgettable. In an episode with TOMORROW X TOGETHER member SOOBIN, the two go through their favorite 2010s K-pop songs, and the moment one starts singing, the other joins in right on cue—something that’ll feel instantly familiar to anyone who grew up with that era of K-pop. In another episode, with fellow SEVENTEEN member DK, the two look back on their trainee period and early debut days. “There’s something so bittersweet about that time,” DK says. “But even so, it was fun.” Memories of days gone by are like that—you can revisit them endlessly and they never get old. And that’s exactly what SEUNGKWAN does. He takes the kind of stories everyone has and, with his warm way and ability to really listen, turns them into something that really sticks with you.

Watching him, you’re reminded of a particular kind of joy that’s at once intimately familiar and always welcome. You know how sometimes, after a good, long chat with a friend, you can’t remember a single thing you talked about, but you vividly remember laughing your head off with them? If that feeling—the joy of conversation for conversation’s sake—is one that speaks to you, “Boo Seungkwan’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” is exactly the kind of show that gives mealtime an extra spoonful of charm on an otherwise ordinary day.

“Hoppers”
Nam Sunwoo (“CINE21” reporter): What would you do to protect something you love? “Hoppers” protagonist Mabel has given up being human! Not in a moral sense—she’s used a technology called “hopping” that transfers a human mind into a robotic animal to hop into the body of a beaver and start communicating with animals. She comes to the decision when the pond where she made fond memories with her grandmother is about to be wiped out for a construction project. Her plan is to join the forest community and put the fear of nature into the development-obsessed mayor.

In keeping with that premise, Disney-Pixar’s 30th feature “Hoppers” catches its human audience off guard time and time again. It borrows freely from sci-fi, folk horror, and B-movie comedy, switching between ecosystem logic and physics going haywire, and the result is a film that fans of all genres will love picking apart. The game gets more interesting as it goes, especially in the second half, where an imaginative take on the real-world climate crisis starts to come into sharper focus. The message has been cushioned in beaver fur all along, but when it finally really shows its teeth, all tender and cutting, you’re left thinking about how it’s not always what you say that matters, but the way you say it. Fittingly, one of the key technologies behind hopping is automatic translation. The film has a lot of fun with scenes where that language switch flips on and off, so there’s extra fun to be had paying attention to how it handles the art of communication.

NME 100 of 2026 - key tracks
Seo Seongdeok (music critic): Every year, major British music magazine “NME” selects 100 emerging artists worth watching and publishes them on its NME 100 list. The list has a strong track record dating back to when it started in 2017. It was an early champion of Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Fred Again, and many others who went on to become major stars. To be eligible, artists must be recommended by music experts inside and outside “NME,” must not have released a studio album yet, and can only appear on the list once. The list for 2026 is once again packed with promising artists from well beyond the UK and US, hailing from across Asia, Africa, and more to deliver sounds that are fresh, innovative, and unafraid to cross genre lines.

Five Korean artists made the list this year, which is notable. Per the 100’s alphabetical order, they are Baby DONT Cry, Effie, Hearts2Hearts, ifeye, and KiiiKiii. Effie stands out in that short list as the only one who isn’t a K-pop girl group. Widely credited as a pioneer of Korean hyperpop, she’s been turning up on year-end roundups by overseas outlets like “The New York Times,” and earned the most nominations of any artist at this year’s Korean Music Awards, with six nods. It’s a sign that Korean popular music is expanding into the global market as something much broader than K-pop alone.

Spotify and Apple Music both have playlists collecting key tracks from every artist on the NME 100. There’s nothing quite like discovering a new artist, so go check out the pop stars of the future today.