Touched by an A.N.JELL
Touched by an A.N.JELL
The little drama that could, SBS’s You’re Beautiful, has aired it’s final episode in Korea. It had been said that the drama was doomed to fail since it had been lined up to air against the drama that was assured ratings domination IRIS. Although IRIS did dominate with ratings hovering around 30%, it hasn’t done as well as expected. With big names like Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Hee, and Big Bang’s TOP, along with the biggest production budget of a Korean drama ever at 200 billion won (around 20 million USD), IRIS was expected to do better. You’re Beautiful stayed strong with ratings in Korea of 10%, but what set You’re Beautiful apart was its faithful, avid fans and its immense popularity online with international fans. Experts say that You’re Beautiful survived for three main reasons: One, a good storyline by the popular Hong sisters which portrays a fantasy drama that had strong characters with personality and great dialogue. Many said that the characters were tailor made for the actors that portrayed them. Two, The story showed life behind the scenes of an idol band and with the current K-pop craze of idols it showed fans a different aspect of idol life. Three- A solid fan base.
When lead actor Jang Geun Suk, wrote a message on the drama’s homepage wondering if the low ratings were because of his portrayal of A.N.JELL leader Hwang Tae Kyung, fans were ardent in their support of the drama and its cast and crew. Korean and Chinese fans sent a buffet meal for the whole cast and crew, gifts of vitamins, letters, and other fan sponsored projects were done to support their favorite drama. When the drama was shooting in Japan for its last episode, it had a last minute call for extras and the resulting 300+ fans surprised the cast and crew because there were no You’re Beautiful promotions in Japan. When asked how they knew about the show, fans responded that they followed the drama online.
It’s surprising that in Korea You’re Beautiful didn’t perform better because online its the #1 drama on most K-drama sites and forums. On one site You’re Beautiful had over 3 million views when you take that and divide it by the number of videos (123) it comes out to about 24,500 views per video. If you compare this with IRIS‘ number of views per video on the same site, 8,041 and Queen Seonduk at 5,381, You’re Beautiful dominated by a landslide. The popularity of You’re Beautiful with international/online fans have caused Kdrama sites to have major server issues with the amount of fans trying to watch episodes as soon as they’re released. Dramabeans’ site crashed when rabid fans were logging on trying to read her episode 10 recaps, the infamous ‘reveal’ episode. Fans were also VERY vocal in requesting merchandise from the drama. There were no plans of merchandising the pig-rabbit or the A.N.JELL pogs and stickers but when they were shown in the drama fans were immediately demanding the items from the drama’s production company. The first OST from the drama sold over 30,000 copies which is a lot for a drama OST, and the second OST is sure to sell just as much.
What is in store for our favorite faux idol group members after You’re Beautiful?
Shining A.N.JELL – Lee Hong Ki who played Jeremy was said to be the ’sun’ on the set, he was the mood maker and was much loved by the rest of the cast and crew. He was always smiling even when exhausted because of their demanding filming schedule. Fans loved the cute and sweet Jeremy who was always there to lighten the mood whenever things got too tense. Fans were moved to tears when Jeremy got his heart broken after he found out that Go Mi Nam liked Hwang Tae Kyung. I do have to admit that I got teary eyed too because Hong Ki was very convincing, but what made me cry more was when he told Mi Nam that as soon as his magic bus returns to its stop he’ll be okay but “When I get off this bus, I’m going to return to being the happy Jeremy. Forget everything I said here. If you don’t forget them, I can’t return. Got it, Go Mi-nam?” It showed the depth of Jeremy and how he had to overcome his heartache to move on in life. Hong Ki plans to return to his real idol life as the lead singer for F.T. Island and their current “Men’s Stories” concert series.
Blue A.N.JELL – The rookie on the set, Jung Yong Hwa came out of nowhere to steal the hearts of fans everywhere. He did a great job in his first acting role as Kang Shin Woo, the sweet and protective member of A.N.JELL who was always there for Mi Nam even when she didn’t know it. My heart stopped during episode 13 when he was speaking to Mi Nam after the shoe fiasco instigated by the evil He Yi, and he said “I haven’t been able to confess my feelings once, but it feels like I’ve been rejected a hundred times. I don’t think I’ll be embarrassed now even if I’m rejected for real.” Great things are in store for Yong Hwa, his band C.N. Blue was recently called back from Japan to perform with F.T.Island at their concerts in Seoul and they’re set to debut in Korea early next year. Yong Hwa was also cast in a new variety show alongside Kim Hyun Joong called Korea Ecosystem Rescue Centre, Hunters in which they hunt wild boars to help control the population which is threatening Korea’s ecosystem.
ArchA.N.JELL – The most experienced actor of the leads, Jang Geun Suk portrayed the musical genius, charismatic, and slightly OCD leader of A.N.JELL, Hwang Tae Kyung. Who didn’t fall in love with the scowling Tae Kyung, with his hidden pain of abandonment, and the indifferent mask he wore to protect himself. His often hilarious interactions with Go Mi Nam and the slow thawing of his heart towards her had fans squealing with glee. His creation of the pig-rabbit for Mi Nam had fans clamoring for their own, which have just been released for sale. The Hong sisters are Geun Suk fans, this is the second drama of theirs he starred in, the first being Hong Gil Dong. Recently on the drama’s homepage, the sisters gave Geun Suk a ‘100 out of 10′ for his portrayal of Hwang Tae Kyung, that’s high praise coming from the writers of the drama. I haven’t read any news of what he’ll be doing next, but he has been flooded with CF offers ranging from cell phones and cameras to cosmetics and clothing. Numerous offers for movies and television have been pouring in for Geun Suk also, so he’ll have his pick of roles to choose from.
Fallen A.N.JELL – Park Shin Hye plays twins Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu in You’re Beautiful. For the most part she is Go Mi Nyu acting as her brother Go Mi Nam who had an unfortunate double eyelid surgery. She plays the part beautifully as the innocent and naive former ‘almost nun.’ She has to portray the gamut of emotions as she learns about life in the ‘real’ world (if you can call life as an idol ‘real’), about first love, deception, heartache, and the ugliness of some. My favorite Mi Nam moment would have to be when she confesses her feelings to Tae Kyung in relation to a star in episode 7, “Hyungnim, right now I only see one special star. There are a great many of them, but this one star sparkles so brightly that I keep only seeing that star.” It was a great scene. It couldn’t have been easy playing a guy for most of the drama, so I think she did a great job. Shin Hye has also been receiving a lot of CF offers, no news yet on what is next in store for her.
Wannabe A.N.JELL – I would be remiss to not mention Uee’s performance in the drama. She played the part of the ‘Fake Fairy’ Yoo He Yi well and had fans loving her and hating her because of it. If it weren’t for her a lot of our favorite scenes would not have been. One of my favorites, the A.N.JELL warfare, when He Yi shows up unannounced and makes Tae Kyung, Shin Woo, and Jeremy cook her lunch. The boys try to retaliate by adding extra ingredients to the pasta like salt, sugar, and vinegar but the wily He Yi catches on and offers it to Mi Nam, but Jeremy takes one for the team and eats it instead. You also felt sorry for He Yi because of her true insecurity and honest affection for Tae Kyung. Life as an idol is not easy for anyone. Uee also returns to her life as a real idol and her group After School. After School has two new members and just made their comeback as a seven member group on Music Bank with their new song “Because of You.”
At the A.N.JELL mini concert that the drama held to be part of the final episode, 2,500 fans showed up after only a few days notice. They sang their songs “Promise” and ”Still” along with a few of their solo songs from the OSTs. All four of the leads Jang Geun Suk, Park Shin Hye , Lee Hong Ki, and Jung Yong Hwa became very close during the filming and there have been talks of A.N.JELL having more performances. At the concert, Jang Geun Suk said that SBS is considering having a season 2 for You’re Beautiful, but no serious plans have been made yet. Most of the cast and crew have mentioned that they would be willing to do a season 2 of the drama. Now if we can just get SBS and the Hong sisters to commit, we’d be set. Now, I am off to watch the last two episodes of You’re Beautiful. I had decided that I would wait until I could watch both with English subs at my leisure to do it and not watch any teasers or read any recaps. This was a HUGE decision for me because I’m the type of person who reads the end of the book halfway through. I had stopped watching K-dramas for a while after having lost interest and You’re Beautiful renewed that craze for me, and yes, it is a craze. If you didn’t watch You’re Beautiful you should give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. For all my fellow fans out there hopefully, we’ll have a season 2 to look forward to. All I can say is be good and ask Santa, or pray to the K-drama gods, or petition SBS, and it could happen.
cr: Dramabeans.com, Newsen, Osen
