DLS Pineda quotes in a Philippine Star article that the Korean wave is such a big hit is because "...Filipinos see beyond the costumes and the put-on characters. Instead, what we see is a reflection of ourselves in terms of our aspirations, hopes and fears." This is the explanation that Prof. Ma. Crisanta Flores, Ph. D from the University of the Philippines, offers. Being a fan of something is more than just because you think it's cool, or trendy, or whatever. At first maybe that's why you found out about it but what makes you stay is that fact that you can relate to it. Let's say you're a fan of Superman. You probably like him because of his super-strength, his flying abilities, his bullet-proofness, and maybe his dashing look? Well, whatever the reason, you wish to have at least one, if not all, of these characteristics. For K-Pop fans, you can see them change in terms of fashion and habits. Some start to dress-up in ensembles inspired by what the...
Before, when K-Pop idols come to the Philippines, only few people know about it, and the media doesn't even cover it. Like during the 60th Korea-Philippines Friendship Festival last 2009, when the groups SHINee and Mighty Mouth went here to perform, I couldn't find any local media coverage of this event. The only coverage I found was from the South Korean news channel Arirang . Lately though, I've been hearing lots of reports about South Korean celebrities and artists coming to the Philippines on the local news and on social networking sites. For example, when the world-famous boyband Super Junior came over for their Super Show 3 concert, it was shown on TV Patrol and MYX (the local MTV). Apart from the news, another noticeable presence of Hallyu on Philippine television are the K-Dramas, also known as Koreanovelas , that have slowly replaced the Spanish telenovelas that used to air in the afternoons. The local networks dub the episodes in Filipino, as opposed ...