Asian Stars Bulking Up!

I've been noticing trends with the Asian male stars, and mostly Korean since that's what I've been watching a lot. There seems to be a trend favoring bodies that are leaner and sexier.

Where lean and skinny was once considered handsome or pretty, muscular and "cut" (showing muscular definition) seems to now have taken over.

Take for instance one time SS501 leader Kim Hyun Joong. While he was filming the popular K-Drama "Boys Before Flowers" he was lean, a little on the skeletal side and handsomely beautiful. Cut to a few years later and he's seen without shirts showing off his ripped (aka chocolate) abs and defined pecs and biceps.

Another example is CNBlue hottie Jung Yong Hwa. He was Park Shin Hye's affectionate, yet sometimes awkward suitor in the popular drama "You're Beautiful". While filming, he was lean, with slight definition to his arms and chest. Earlier this year, after wrapping up promotions for CNBlue's latest album, "Ear Fun", he tweeted that he would be hitting the gym to bulk himself up. In a recent video posted on AllKPop, he shows off his back in a wife beater (that's a men's tank top in case you haven't hear the term before. It doesn't actually mean that you beat your wife). His back muscles and arms clearly defined as he flexed for the camera.

Lastly is FT Island member's Lee Hong Ki and Choi Jong Hoon. While at a concert, in front of hundreds of their fans, they promise they are going to show them better bodies at a future concert. Jong Hoon and Hong Ki hit the gym and while they were in Thailand, Hong Ki pulls up Jong Hoon's shirt displaying his abs to all their adoring fans. Sadly, I don't think Hong Ki was able to show his set off yet. (sorry ladies!)

My point is, what is the point?? In just my humble opinion these guys looked great before they started to work out. I know they love their fans and it's their job to look good, but honestly, sometimes stars/idols can go overboard. Why do these stars feel like they need to bulk up in order to look more handsome? Weren't they handsome enough before? What? Their  handsome faces, voices or acting weren't enough? And why are we, the fans, encouraging them to change? I hope it's for their own self worth and health. I think that would be ok. But anything other than that, is so unnecessary in my opinion.

These stars shouldn't tamper with what God gave them. They should be grateful they're already handsome. I wish these stars would remember that some fans love them just the way they are.

Want to see an example? Go to part 2 of this post. Tell me, do you think as handsome as these stars are, they need to be bulking up?

By the way, can anyone who reads my post tell me if they can read any of my current posts? I usually post daily, and I think there may be something wrong with my site. Please help me?

Netflix vs Hulu Plus for K-Dramas

I am going to go out on a limb here and just assume others have been in my situation.

I am currently debating whether or not I want to reinstate my Netflix membership or not. Why? I simply am not happy with the selection on Netflix. Especially when it comes to Korean dramas.

I think it's been especially, pardon my expression, "sucky" the past year as they moved away from blockbuster movies to TV and drama series. Granted it's been because they lost their partnership with Starz (I believe) but I have my doubts on whether or not this was a good move.

But, I digress...I can go onto a totally different tangent on just their movie selection alone. I want them to have more K-Dramas! And not just the older titles, but current titles as well.

Netflix has been a bit of a thorn in my side when it comes to K-Dramas. They have well-known dramas, but some dramas do not have all of the episodes. For instance, I was thrilled to see that they had Lee Min Ho's drama "City Hunter" and Song Seung Hun's drama "My Princess". But when I went to watch them, there was only half of the episodes listed. Now, they have the full list of episodes ready to watch. But my pet peeve was when I wanted to watch them, they weren't available. And this was after the dramas had been complete for some time. Netflix also has hiccups in their service where it takes quite a while to stream movies or dramas. My experience has been that Netflix would stream for 12 seconds then stop, then stream for 5 seconds and then stop again. Very, very difficult to watch. I have never experienced this with anyone else like YouTube or Hulu.

Speaking of Hulu, I am currently exploring Hulu Plus. I just started my trial the other day. I have to say that I am impressed so far. Not only do they have the older K-Drama titles, but they have newer ones like "My Name Is Kim Sam Soon" as well such as "Time Slip Dr. Jin" and "Baker King Kim Tak Gu". I will note that "Dr. Jin" has not finished airing yet, or may have just finished, but all of the episodes up until this point have been posted on Hulu ready to be streamed. They stream from Drama Fever and have pretty much everything that Drama Fever has, and just within the last year alone, I know that they have grown quite a lot in their selection.

However, I have a slight annoyance with Hulu. I am not sure if this will go away once I have membership, but every program, TV series or movie I have tried to watch has what they call "limited commercials". This is something that I never experienced with Netflix. I hate it. I hate it that YouTube does it, and I hate it that Hulu does it. I hope there is a plan that let's me remove commercials, for a good price of course.

So, the jury is still out on both of these services. But frankly, without the good movie service and the fact that I would use either service to watch K-Dramas, I am leaning more towards.....Hulu Plus.


By the way, can anyone who reads my post tell me if they can read any of my current posts? I usually post daily, and I think there may be something wrong with my site. Please help me?

Joo Ji Hoo Making Comeback

Remember him, gals? It's rumored that Joo Ji Hoo (Goong/Palace, Antique Bakery) will be heavily promoting himself in a new drama series and a movie! What it will be yet, I will be sure to find out!

I sure have missed this guy!

Fanfics

Other than a bit of posts on this blog, I've been toying a bit with the idea of creative writing along the lines of fan fiction.

Until I started to get into Korean dramas and K-pop, the only concept I had of idols were American Idols.

Then I found dramas like My Name is Kim Samsoon, Summer Scent, Boys Before Flowers and You're Beautiful. And then there were groups like SS501, Girls Generation, CNBlue and FT Island. And I went fangirly!

I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be great to write stories about these stars?", and then I found out I wasn't the only crazy one. There are actually sites, yes, sites, full of these stories. Bwahahaha! A fangirl's dream.

After reading more than I could count, I am inspired. The only thing is, what or who to write about? There's too many! Should I open this up to suggestions?