The 한류 (Korean Wave)

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 ...

A real man fanboys over K-Pop. The life of fangirl / fanboy is never easy. You have to watch every video of your favourite artist, be able to go to almost all their fanmeets and concerts, and buy every kind of merch-- Wait. Not all fans are THAT dedicated right? Before we delve further into that, let me tell you first what a fangirl / fanboy is. According to Dictionary.com , the terms fanboy or fangirl is a slang for  a person who is obsessed with an actor or a fictional character. From these, fandoms then appear. A fandom is a collective term for the community of fans of a/an actor, character, book, movie, or in the sense of K-Pop-- an idol group. In K-Pop the top three fandoms are the E.L.Fs [Everlasting Friends], V.I.Ps, and Cassiopeians. Super Junior's E.L.Fs BIGBANG's V.I.Ps TVXQ's Cassiopeians In every fandom there are the regular fans, and then there are the  sasaengs . The word sasaeng can be t...

In my first blog post, I mentioned that I was a K-Pop fan right? Whenever people find out, they'd immediately ask me "What's there to like in K-Pop?" Someone posted a similar question at Yahoo! Answers Singapore  and most of the answers say that they like it because of its catchy tunes, colorful styles and music video themes, cool dance steps, and of course, the good-looking idols Zoe Chace listed in her report in Planet Money (a blog under the non-profit media organization  NPR ) the reasons how Korean Pop music became a worldwide success. She said that South Korea has been preparing for the moment where K-Pop would break through the international market since 20 years ago. They've been recruiting, training, debuting, and sending young people on tours around Asia to introduce K-Pop. Like in Aura Dione's song   America ,   " If you make it in america you can make it anywhere".  Here are the three reasons that helped K-Pop get a shot at makin...

Like many teens today, I too got swept by the Hallyu or the Korean Wave . I even attended two events to meet and have my album signed by 2AM 2AM (Left to Right): Lee Changmin, Jeong Jinwoon, Jo Kwon, Im Seulong. | Signed  2AM Saint O' Clock Album and ZE:A ZE:A (From left): Kim Kevin, Jung Heecheol, Kim Dongjun, Moon Junyoung, Ha Minwoo, Park Hyungsik, Hwang Kwanghee, Kim Taehun | Signed ZE:A Exciting! Album when they went here (in the Philippines) for their respective album's promotion. I even told 2AM's Jo Kwon that he looks like my cousin ㅠ.ㅠ I realized that I've said that and felt embarrassed AFTER I stepped off the stage. (I WAS STARSTRUCK!!! Don't judge) He did say "Aww, thank you!" though hahaha. Seeing them perform live and being able to look at them up-close was worth the 10 hour wait (for 2AM) and the the rushing (for ZE:A).  What is this Korean Wave thing that I mentioned though? In the essay entitled "In...