When Sunshine Embraced KPop

I should change the title of this blog to When Sunshine Embraced Korea. Apparently, other than Korean Drama, there are other aspects to this fangirling--there's KFood, KBeauty and Kpop.

I thought my obsession will only be around KDrama but because of BTS' speech at the UN, I became curious about these groups.

Based on the recommendation of my Twitter Noona friends, I decided to start with the 2nd Gen ones -- Super Junior, Big Bang et al. Since I'm already familiar with Siwon, I went with Super Junior.

Super Junior was formed way bank November 2005 by one of the largest entertainment companies in Korea, SM Entertainment. Auditions and several recruitment events happened across Korea, China and even the US until the initial group comprising of the following Hankyung, Leeteuk, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Sungmin, Donghae, Heechul, Kangin, Kibum, Siwon, Shindong and Ryewook were launched. A year after, Kyuhyun joined the group after winning third place in a local festival.

The concept of the group was something like the Puerto Rican boy band group, Menudo, where the line-up changes to keep the members perpetually young and relate-able. However, this concept was later dropped with the introduction of Kyuhyun. They did form sub-groups to target certain markets and audiences.

The current active members are Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon and Ryeowook. Kyunhyun is still enlisted but is due to be released on May next year.

At first, I only recognized Siwon as I saw him in She Was Pretty. It helped that Siwon is always in the middle so it's easy for me to find him. I watched more of their videos and found Donghae cute as well. I've also seen the other members in I Can See Your Voice (If I'm not mistaken, Leeteuk is one of the hosts while Shindong is one of the judges). I also watched their guesting/s in Running Man and their hilarious "Would You Rather" episode below.



The song below was composed by Donghae resonated in my brain and became my LSS. I'm learning the lyrics as I'm looking forward to singing this while driving.



Again, I'm sore that I missed their concert here last June. When they return, I'll see if I can bring myself to brave the throngs of other ELF fans to see them.

Another interesting song is Lo Siento, with the lyrics being tri-lingual (Korean, English and Spanish). The upbeat rhythm helps too.




My last LSS is Rockstar, specifically, this live version from their Japan concert. I was surprised with the amount of skin that I saw and can't help but wonder how they can stay so fit with their busy schedules.



I still have a lot to learn with regards to this group. Thankfully, my Noona ELF friends shared this very informative Twitter thread:

Get to know @SJofficial -a thread - #TheGroup #PCAs #SuperJunior

— Jae for SJ 💙 (@SapphireJae13) October 7, 2018

She Was Pretty

Continuing on with my PSJ marathon, I chose to watch this next. Of course, starring Park Seo-joon, Hwang Jung-eum, Go Joon-hee and Choi Si-won. This drama premiered September 2015 and ran until November same year.

PSJ's younger character, Ji Sung-joon, used to be unattractive and was bullied around by other kids, while his friend, Kim Hye-jin played by Jwang Jung-eum, was very pretty and popular among their peers. When Ji Sung-joon moved to the US with his father, they lost track of each other.

When Sung-joon returned to Korea for a work assignment, he found a way to contact Hye-jin and scheduled to meet with her. When she saw how good-looking her childhood friend turned out to be, she asked her bestfriend, Min Ha-ri (Go Joon-hee), to pretend to be her.

As fate would have it, she got a job in the same publication that Sung-joon works and after seeing her, he belittled her appearance and even mistreated her because of her ineptitude. However, Hye-jin was befriended by a senior editor, Kim Shin-hyuk (Choi Si-won) who eventually fell in love with her even before her physical make-over.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

Park Seo-joon
Yes, it's a given that PSJ is one of the reasons why I like this series and why I watched it. However, unlike his previous dramas, I initially did not like his character here. He was very rude to the girl and was rather curt and abrasive.

Funny Park Seo Joon GIF from Funny GIFs

He did however mellow down throughout the series and like his other dramas, was again blessed with a topless and shower scene.

I couldn't resist NOT taking a screen cap.

Choi Si-won
When I started watching this, I had no idea that Si-won was part of the famous Korean boy band, Super Junior. One of my friends just told me when I was almost halfway through the series. Even if I only started watching K Dramas this year, I've heard of Super Junior since 2012. That's why I laughed when they mentioned this in their conversation.

It was because of Si-won that I experienced for the first time, the Second Lead Syndrome. Though I love PSJ, I really wanted Si-won to get the girl here. He worked hard to get her and even fell in love with Jackson (that's what he called the character of Hye-jin) even before her beauty transformation. I cried more for him that PSJ. Hmph.

I also found his character very entertaining and amusing. It's one of the reasons why I was rooting for him more. Found this clip from Youtube showing his hilarious moments in the series.




The Bromance

The gif says it all. Even if they're after the same girl, Si-won still manages to give him hell. Hehe.

Siwon She Was Pretty GIF from Siwon GIFs

The Blowout
When the truths began to unfold, I liked it that the expected blowout between the bestfriends did not happen. If it was a typical drama (like what we have here locally), there would've been a lot of shouting, hair-pulling and slapping. But their confrontation happened with a quiet grace and the understanding of a real best friend. It was really touching and heartwarming to watch. I'm not sure though, if that could happen in real life.

The Cameos
I did a lot of finger pointing when I rewatched Episode 9 again and saw cameos of some of my other oppas--Park Hyung-sik and Lee Joon-gi! Apparently, the footage was taken from the Seoul Drama Awards red carpet. Nevertheless, it was a little thrill to see them suddenly appear in the middle of the episode.


WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT

The Female Lead Character
She was really over the top here. I can't believe that a human being can be that clumsy. Moreover, she was so loud that whenever she screeches, my ears would hurt that I would bring the volume down. I'm not sure if the character was written that way or if the actress portraying her chose to play her that way.

The Lies and Deception
There were too many lies and deceptions happening in the first part of the story that it was painful to watch. I actually skipped most part of an episode because of Ha-ri's lying and Hye-jin's inability to say who she really was.

RATING

Rating this two tissue boxes as it's not one of my favorites. Still giving it a two because of PSJ.

Edit: 8/4/21 Changing the rating to three tissue boxes because PSJ and CSW

Watched: July 8-10, 2018