Starting Over: Kim Myungsoo Makes Hope Walk Instead of Fly

Kim Myungsoo could sell a horizon by looking at it for four seconds. “Starting Over” knows that. Thankfully, the song gives him more to do than model beside inspirational scenery.

RaeRae verdict: bottom line

“明日に向かって (Starting Over)” works because it treats optimism as repeated motion, not a miracle arriving with the chorus. Guitar, drums and an open melodic line keep nudging forward while Myungsoo sings with measured warmth. He does not pretend the past vanished. He sounds like somebody choosing tomorrow while uncertainty is still in the car.

The MV leans hard on coastline, roads, sunlight and quiet acting. That can become a travel brochure with feelings. Myungsoo saves it through small decisions: when his gaze drops, how long he holds still before moving and where a smile stops short of advertisement brightness. The restraint makes a very clean song feel lived rather than printed on a mug.

Release file

The arrangement starts walking before he feels ready

Shinichi Ihara and Daisuke Nagano build the melody around lift without forcing a giant launch. Guitar establishes brightness, drums maintain road-song momentum and the chorus widens in steps. The track moves first, allowing the singer’s certainty to catch up.

That order matters. A song about starting over can sound dishonest when the production erases hesitation immediately. Here, forward motion exists beside a cooler vocal color and moments of held breath. Hope is a direction, not proof that everything already worked out.

Myungsoo’s voice gets space INFINITE rarely gives it

Inside INFINITE, Myungsoo’s lower, cooler tone usually sits within a dense vocal machine. Sungkyu and Woohyun can open the ceiling; layered harmonies and dramatic production build the group’s architecture. A solo frame removes those supports and exposes every attack.

He responds by staying conversational. Notes begin cleanly, sustained phrases remain controlled and warmth grows through repetition instead of sudden force. He is not trying to win an imaginary main-vocal trial. He is showing why his specific color deserves a complete song around it.

Japanese phrasing changes the shape of his calm

The Japanese lyric gives him a different sequence of consonants and open vowels than a Korean INFINITE track. I am not pretending fluency or grading an accent from a sofa. What the recording proves is that he prioritizes melodic continuity, clear phrase endings and emotional pacing over vocal fireworks.

The title itself matters. “明日に向かって” points toward tomorrow; “Starting Over” describes beginning again. One phrase emphasizes destination, the other action. The song holds both. He moves toward something while rebuilding the person doing the moving.

This is a Japanese solo debut, not an INFINITE divorce

moments formally opened Myungsoo’s Japanese solo catalog while INFINITE’s six-member group return was active. Solo and group identities coexist. The song does not announce liberation from his members, and the group hub should not treat individual work as betrayal.

Only Myungsoo performs this exact file. Sungkyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Sungyeol and Sungjong remain connected through the INFINITE hub but receive no participant credit here. Relationship is not the same as appearance, and a proper tracker needs both facts.

L and Kim Myungsoo are one career, not two database people

Fans may enter through L of INFINITE, actor Kim Myungsoo or his solo music. Splitting those routes into separate profiles would fracture one person because search engines and entertainment branding use different names. The correct profile joins them and labels the context.

The MV benefits from both identities. L brings idol camera discipline; Kim Myungsoo brings years of acting experience. Neither needs to defeat the other. The face viewers recognize becomes useful because the performance underneath it stays controlled.

Acting skill lives in the half-second before movement

Myungsoo does not attack every hopeful lyric with a large smile. He lets a gaze settle, breathes, then changes body direction. Those transitions create continuity between scenic shots that might otherwise feel like unrelated postcards.

Watch the moment before he looks toward open space. The emotion does not begin when the camera reveals the horizon. It begins in the hesitation that makes turning toward it necessary. That is an actor protecting a simple concept from becoming greeting-card paste.

Lyrics and meaning: the horizon is a promise with no warranty

Roads, coastlines and broad skies are familiar shorthand for freedom. The MV does not reinvent that visual language. Its better choice is keeping Myungsoo small enough in some frames that the landscape feels like distance still to travel, not a prize already owned.

Travel becomes an emotional verb. A body approaches, pauses and continues. The scenery never proves success. It shows room. For a song about beginning again, room may be the most honest promise available.

The band brightness needs one bruise

The arrangement is pleasant almost to a fault. Guitar shines, drums encourage and the chorus opens exactly where expected. One rougher bridge, lower instrumental drop or exposed vocal line could have made the return to brightness feel earned through friction.

Myungsoo’s restraint keeps the polish from becoming empty, but the production rarely challenges him. Starting over usually includes one morning when the car will not start and the inspirational horizon is raining sideways. The song could survive five seconds of inconvenience.

The video is beautiful and slightly too clean

The color, wardrobe and landscape all understand his visual appeal. At times, they understand it so well that the emotional stakes get airbrushed. A less composed room or one genuinely tired moment would create contrast with the open-road release.

I do not need misery added for seriousness. I need texture. Myungsoo gives the camera enough internal hesitation that the video almost reaches it. The locations keep returning to beauty before uncertainty can leave a mark.

What changed every time I replayed it

First pass, the coastline and his face did exactly what the production expected. Second pass, I ignored the scenery and followed phrase endings. His calm sounded less passive because I could hear how deliberately he meters breath and warmth.

Third pass, the Japanese and English titles changed the argument: toward tomorrow versus begin again. Fourth pass, I watched only the transitions before each scenic reveal. My final audio-only replay confirmed the weakness and the appeal. The song is safer than I want, but Myungsoo’s quiet conviction keeps safety from becoming nothing.

Exact-file and image trail

This React covers exact official MV 8D320iSMCUQ. Teasers, live performances and the second moments MV remain separate files. The featured image, hero, landing-page card and social image use the same unique local close-up from this upload, stored in WordPress with descriptive metadata and the official source URL.

Sources and receipts

• L / Kim Myungsoo “明日に向かって (Starting Over)” exact official MVDaily+73Total views248.2K
• Bushiroad Music Japanese debut announcement, track list and writing credits
• Genie moments commercial listing and release context
• Bushiroad press record for the November 15 Japanese solo debut