I think for most people in the Philippines, the thing that opened Filipinos interest to Asian dramas was Taiwan’s Meteor Garden which aired in 2003 through ABS-CBN. It was my highschool senior year and I was instantly hooked because I was very much into anime back then and the F4 guys looked liked anime characters that came to life.
Ten years later, I was lying in my dorm bed in Singapore with no plans for the day and so utterly bored, I decided to re-watch Meteor Garden. I though it wouldn’t have an effect on me anymore but I ended up finishing Season 1 in just two days with only bathroom breaks and two-three hours of sleep (I didn’t watch Season 2 anymore because I know that it sucks).
After that, I remembered that there’s Korean version, Boys over Flowers (BOF), which also aired in the Philippines in 2009 but I only watched a few episodes because the female lead was irritating to watch. I tried to watch it again but I was again irritated by the heroine that I dropped it after 2 episodes. I don’t know why, but I just can’t stand the way she speaks or act, sorry…
I had no idea that a Japanese version, Hana Yori Dango (HYD), was also made (even before BOF in 2005) because it never aired in the Philippines like the other two. I checked them out and just fell head over heels over ikemen or good-looking guys and this started my eventful addiction to J and K dramas. A friend asked me once how come I was hooked to HYD but dropped BOF when BOF guys for her are more good looking. Well yeah, I would agree to a degree that Korean actors are more pleasing to the eye, but that’s the thing, they are too handsome I felt like they are “unreal” and the drama felt like a drama (it won’t ever happen in real life). Unlike HYD actors, who are good-looking but also flawed (like MatsuJun’s pimple scar, Shun Oguri’s teeth) and J-Dramas (I think) acting is loose and light.
I fell in love with Jun Matsumoto and Shun Oguri, so it comes with no explanation that my next drama is Gokusen. This drama which has three seasons led me to my current J-Idol favorite, Kamenashi Kazuya. My parallel obsession with Shun Oguri brought me to my official favorite JDrama of all time, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, which added Ikuta Toma and Hiro Misuzhima (I love him so much I watched Black Butler live action even if I was the only one in the cinema), to my ever growing “guys to dream” list.
I’m a shallow person when it comes to dramas. My criteria is simple, there has to be dreamy guys in it and the story must be light ( a little drama is okay). I eventually run-out of Johnny’s idols drama so I decided to check out KDramas and recommendations for something similar to BOF, and one drama kept coming up – You’re Beautiful.
If MatsuJun and OguShun got me started with JDramas, Jang Geun Suk and Lee HongGi are the ones that made me jump the boat to KDramas. I didn’t watch any JDrama for a while until I finished all of JKS his works with Mary Stayed Out All Night ending up as my favorite (it’s a personal preference, I’m a sucker for rockers in real life).
I remembered Lee Jun Ki from My Girl and so I watched all his other works right after my JKS drama marathons. His latest drama, Scholar Who Walks the Night, introduced me to my current #1 crush, Lee Soo-Hyuk. On the other hand, my obsession with Lee Hong Ki paved way to a new discovery – K-Rock and J-Rock. As I mentioned, I’m really into bands so it’s no wonder I loved FTIsland almost instantaneously.
When it comes to music, I’m still living in the 90’s or the era of punk, alternative, emo rock. If it doesn’t come from a band, I am not a patron. Even though I was obsessed with FTIsland, and several other Japanese bands like The GazettE and One Ok Rock (just imagine my hapiness when I found out they are friends with FTI), I didn’t bother to listen to K-Pop. I tried to listen to CNBlue but they didn’t appeal to me and they are a band, so I thought what more the generic Kpop genre?
But that all changed when I saw HongKi in a variety show together with a guy named Heechul and to say he’s crazy is an understatement. It was so funny, I was laughing my head off and I can’t believe (well I partly believed) that Hongki is bestfriends with a crazy guy like that. I was so curious as to who he is and why is he acting like that only for me to learn that he, HongKi, and JKS are all friends and are part of a group called Chocoball together with other equally crazy guys.
As much as I love Heechul, he didn’t make me go gaga over Super Junior. I checked out their songs, I liked some, I loved some especially Evanesce. I’m still overwhelmed with how many guys they have there, that I can only identify four of them.
I watched Hong Ki’s WGM Global Edition Season 1 so I was astounded to know that Heechul was in Season 2. However, as Episode 1 starts on my laptop, it is not Heechul that caught my attention but this gorgeous guy – Key.
I tried to finish watching WGM but can’t get over my curiosity of Key, so I put WGM on-hold to search information about him, hello there SHINee!
My husband can’t believe my obsession with SHINee. For the first time in my life I’ve shown interest to the point that I joined SHINee World Philippines which he knows I normally wouldn’t do. I don’t think I’ll ever be a hardcore Kpop fan, I still cringe at some of their antics and still think the repetitive hooks and basic notes of their songs is meh, but for now I’ll be a hardcore Heechul, Key, and SHINee fan.
My husband, who is a bassist and drummer, always teases me on how the rocker gal he used to know have turned into a dancing kpop girl. He’s still amused on how my playlist can be playing Fall Out Boy or Chemical Romance and then out of nowhere play Ring Ding Dong or Odd-Eye. Oh well, what can I do? It seems like I’m Married to the(ir) Music after all.
It's Me, Cesz! 