The Group Of Korean

SS501

SS501 (pronounced as Double-S 501 or Deo Beul E Seu Oh Gong Il (더블에스오공일) in Korean) is a very popular South Korean boy band under management of Daesung Entertainment, also known as DSP Entertainment. The name of the band is a combination of the alphabet and numbers that have special meanings in them. The first “S” stands for “Super” "Star" . The second “S” is an abbreviation for "Singer". The number 5, 0, and 1 means "five members united as one forever". So SS501 has a message of let's become a sensational singer as 5.
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2005-2006: Debut

SS501 debuted on June 8, 2005 with their first single "Kyeonggo" (Korean: "경고", "Warning"), with a second single "Snow Prince" released in late 2005. The group was inactive in Korea for most of 2006, although they had a fan meeting in Japan in April.^[2] The reason was due to Heo Young Saeng's throat condition which required a surgery, thus resulting in a need for time to fully recover.^[3]. In mid-2006, they held their first successful concert, "Step Up Concert" in Osaka, Japan. In late 2006, they returned to Korea in order to promote their first full album, which was released on November 10 and titled S.T.01 Now. Singles from the album included "Unlock" and "Four Chance". As well as promoting the album on various variety and music shows, they also filmed a show on MNet called SOS. The group also lent their voices for the 2006 animated movie Pi's Story.

2007-2008: Japanese activities, `Boys Over Flowers`, and Sub-unit

Later in 2007, the group debuted in the Japanese market. A Japanese fan club has been established with the name of "Triple S Japan"; it officially debuted on March 25, 2007, when SS501 had their first official meeting with the group. The group released their Japanese single "Kokoro", alongside multiple versions, including one with all members and five others featuring the members individually. The single debuted at #5 on the Oricon chart, and move to #3 the next day. A full album was released later that year.

In 2008, SS501 returned to Korea with their single Deja Vu released on March 8, 2008. The title track was the first song to be promoted, and they began their comeback on music channel M.Net's M Countdown.^[5] After success with their single "Deja Vu", they began to promote their second single, "A Song Calling for You". They performed their Goodbye Stage on Music Bank on June 6, 2008, to return to Japanese activities.

On October 2, 2008, an official announcement confirmed that leader Kim Hyun Joong was part of the cast for the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango, officially named Boys Over Flowers. It was broadcast on KBS in the first half of 2009, with a total of 25 episodes and a few special episodes.

With both Park Jung Min (Danny Park on the musical Grease) and Kim Hyun Joong on solo activities, the next SS501 album was pushed back to July 2009. As such, the other three members formed a subunit with Heo Young Saeng as the leader and released a project album named U R Man in November 2008. The first single released was "U R Man". They also promoted their single for the Boys Over Flowerssoundtrack, "Nae Meoriga Nabbaseo" (Korean: "내 머리가 나빠서", "Because I'm Stupid"). Due to the success of the drama, the song had a high number of downloads.

[edit]2009: Solo collection, second mini and first Asian tour

They released their official second Japanese album on May 13, 2009 titled All My Love and had a promotional tour in Japan in support of the album. The group also released their Solo Collection, consisting of the individual members' songs.

After concentrating on their individual activities, the group made a comeback and released their second mini album titled Rebirth, with the limited edition being released on October 20, 2009^[6]^[7] and the normal edition on 22 October. The limited special edition album included two posters and a 100 page photo diary. Their comeback song "Love Like This" was very popular and well received, winning two Music Bankawards and one Inkigayo Mutizen in November. The group ended promotions for the album on November 29, 2009.

On August 1, 2009, the group started their first Asia tour,^[8] visiting Seoul, Tokyo, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

[edit]2010: Third mini album

The group held a concert in Thailand, February 2010 before holding their final concert in Seoul to conclude the tour.

Although the release of their new mini album was planned to be on May 1, 2010 (a nod towards "501" in the group's name), the date was pushed back in order to "add finishing touches".

On May 22, SS501 was one of many popular groups that performed at the 2010 Dream Concert. Due to the fact that Kim Hyun Joong was still recovering from a previous injury, they sang two ballads instead of the rumored come back track.

A day after their performance at the Dream Concert, one of their mini-album tracks, "Let Me Be The One" was leaked on the internet. Not long afterwards, the teaser for the comeback track was unveiled. The third mini album, "Destination", was finally released on May 24, 2010.

Their first win for their title track "Love Ya" was during their second week of promotion in Music Bank, on June 11, 2010. They also took first place the following week. On June 18, 2010, Daesung Entertainment announced that SS501 would end their "Love Ya" promotions due to contract expiry with DSP on June 7, 2010.

[edit]Contract issues

On June 28, 2010, it was officially announced that the group's leader, Kim Hyun Joong, had signed a contract with KeyEast Entertainment. Even though he is no longer signed with DSP Entertainment but he is still a part of SS501.

On August 10, 2010, Park Jung Min, following Kim Hyun Joong's footsteps, officially left DSP Entertainment and joined a newly created company, CNR Media. However, like Kim Hyun Joong, he is still a part of SS501 and has never stated otherwise.

On August 28, 2010, it was officially announced that Kim Hyung Jun had left DSP Entertainment and joined another company, S-Plus Entertainment. But, like his fellow group members, he still is a part of SS501 even though he is no longer signed with DSP Entertainment.

The remaining members Heo Young Saeng and Kim Kyu Jong signed their contracts with B2Ment, (Lee Hyori's company)

Despite the fact having to be in different companies, SS501 will still remain SS501. All of the member's companies have stated that SS501's activities will be top priority in their contracts. ^[9]

On October 2010, Kim Hyung Jun announced that SS501 will be back in early 2011 with a new album. ^[10]

[edit]Solo activities 2010-2011

Kim Hyun Joong had filmed a drama Playful Kiss as Baek Seung Jo, the main male lead along with Jung So Min as Oh Ha Ni, the main female lead.

It had been confirmed that members, Heo Young Saeng and Kim Kyu Jong will be holding fanmeetings in countries across Asia.

Park Jung Min's comeback solo album 'Not Alone' was originally supposed to be released on 25th November 2010, but due to North Korea attacking South Korea, CNR Media decided that the release should be postponed. The company is now planning to release the 'Not Alone' on 20th January 2011 to allow Park Jung Min to add more songs to the album. The original price for the album will be changed because of this. Park Jung Min was also involved in a musical 'Bonds Of Boys' in Japan as an exchange student from 18th November - 23rd November.

Kim Hyung Jun is currently in musical 'Cafe-In' in Korea from 24th November 2010 - 23 January 2011 as two characters: Ji Min and Jeong Min.

Super Junior

Super Junior-T are famous in South Korea for their song "Rokkugo", but Sungmin constantly feels overshadows because of his lack of talent and good-looks. Wandering the streets at night, the only person who recognizes him as a celebrity is an unattractive ahjumma. Sungmin meets a fortune teller and is given a magic skipping rope. Not knowing its secret, Sungmin uses it to try and get into shape. As he skips, he turns invisible just as the other members walk by. They voice their concerns about Sungmin's unwillingness right in front of him and they all walk away except Leeteuk. Offended by their lack of faith, Sungmin stops skipping and shocks Leeteuk with his sudden reappearance, causing him to pass out. Now knowing his ability, Sungmin goes on mischievous adventures such as trying to go into the women's bathing room.

One his way home he sees a woman (Enjel) being harassed by two men and decides to finally use his ability for a good deed. Right then, Leeteuk walks by just in time to see Sungmin turn invisible. Sungmin sneaks up on the thugs and scare them away. He, as well as Leeteuk, are immediately smitten by Enjel's beauty.

For the next few days, Sungmin uses his rope to follow her around until he becomes exhausted. Sungmin takes Enjel to the park where she tells him she has always wanted a puppy. Secretly, Sungmin uses his rope again and visits the fortune teller one more time. Leeteuk again passes by and sees Sungmin place the new puppy beside Enjel before disappearing. As Leeteuk looks on uncertainly, it is revealed to the audience that Leeteuk was actually the person who saved Enjel by throwing a can at the thugs. Not seeing him, they had thought that Sungmin had been the one to have physically thrown it, thinking him to be a ghost.

That night, Leeteuk takes the skipping rope from the sleeping Sungmin, saying it is for his own good. The next day, Sungmin discovers Enjel had not returned his calls, nor does she want to talk to him. Arriving at her house for answers, Enjel simply throws the rope back at him and calls him a liar. Leeteuk later confesses before a performance that he had visited Enjel and presumably told her the truth about the rope. Enraged by this revealation, Sungmin suddenly punches Leeteuk and lashes out about having trusted him as a leader and a brother. Leeteuk punches him back and exclaims that Super Junior-T is falling apart because of his aloof behavior, and that he should see what is in front of him. Sungmin angrily storms out, declaring he is quitting Super Junior-T.

Sungmin goes to Enjel's house one more time in hopes to catch one last glimpse of her before leaving. He peers through the door and hears someone singing. The unattractive ahjumma appears, singing about how she will deceive men tonight. She then transforms into Enjel. Horrified at what he sees, Sungmin runs away.

It appears that Leeteuk had been suspicious of the true identity and intentions of Enjel, and he had been right all along. Sungmin realizes the skipping rope had caused him more harm than good, and ultimately he throws it into the Han River.

The next day, holding his pride over the humiliation of knowing Enjel's secret, Sungmin still decides to leave Super Junior-T, much to the dismay of the members. As Sungmin walks away, Leeteuk tells him that they had promised to stay together till the end, and that Super Junior-T is nothing without him. Turning back, Sungmin tearfully confesses that he had been completely fooled, and hugs Leeteuk. The members all gather together as one group, now and for always.

Mblaq

Having trained for two years,^[2] MBLAQ was first announced on 21 September 2009, with an appearance in Nylon magazine.^[2] The group appeared alongside Rain, in his Legend of Rainism concert. They performed various songs from their produced EP, Just BLAQ and were met with praise, with many spectators at the concert and fans considering them as the next DBSK.^[3]^[4] The group released teasers for their debut song, "Oh Yeah" on October 12,^[5] with the music video being released two days later.^{[citation needed]} Coinciding with the music video, MBLAQ's debut single album Just BLAQ, was released on the same day,^[6] topping various charts in South Korea.^[1] The next day, the group made their broadcast debut on M.net's M!Countdown, performing "Oh Yeah".^[1]

In early December, the group debuted in Japan, following their performance during Rain's fan meeting- resulting in a documentary being produced surrounding their stay in Japan.^[7] Later that month, the group commenced promotions for their follow up track, "G.O.O.D Luv", with two music videos released, an 'unofficial' MV released prior to the 'official' MV which was released on December 10, 2009.^[8]

On May 19, 2010, the group released their second single album, Y.^[9] The music video for the title track, "Y" was released on the same day at midnight^[9] with teasers being released from May 6.^[10] MBLAQ claimed first place on the 3rd of June 2010 on the music show M! Countdown^[11], and were voted the best Rookie Group for the first half of 2010 through a poll conducted by Korean music site Bugs, obtaining 46% of the votes^[12]

MBLAQ's official fanclub was announced in November 2009, with the given name of A+, or in Hangul, 에이프러스. The colour of the official fanclub is Pearl Chocolate.

[edit]Other Activities

[edit]Television

2009

In late 2009, MBLAQ's first aired program was M.Net's MBLAQ - The Art of Seduction, which received record ratings for the cable TV's program.^[13]

With their trip to Japan for Rain's fanmeet, music channel M.Net Japan decided to film a documentary of their stay, selecting them as the first stars of their show '2010 KPOP Star' series.^[7] The documentary, called Yo! Tokyo, aired in early 2010, showing the public their experience in Japanese culture and traditions over a period of four days.

On December 15, 2009, it was announced that the group would be part of Season five of the Idol Show (Hangul: 아이돌 군단의 떴다! 그녀!, which translates to Idol Army, She Has Arrived!), with the first episode airing a day later.^[14] MBLAQ filmed a total of 16 episodes.

2010

From February 18, 2010, MBLAQ members G.O and Joon took on the role of co-hosts (MCD Guys) for the music show M! Countdown^[15].

In March, Cheon Doong participated in M.Net's M.Net Scandal^[16]. Cheon Doong, having lived in the Philippines, participated in the cable TV show, Mom, I've gone crazy for English with fellow singer Nicole of Kara^[17], where he was an English mentor to young children. He was also a host of The M-Wave with fellow artist Krystal of f(x)^[18]^,^[19].

To coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, MTV Korea created a program where members of male idol groups formed a soccer team to compete against other soccer teams^[20]. The 14-member team consisted of members from U-KISS, ZE:A, F.Cuz, and D-NA (Dae Guk Nam Ah), with MBLAQ members being Seung Ho, Joon and Mir.

In addition to his MC role in M! Countdown, Joon also took on the role of MC for QTV's Ranking Women^[21], however he has since left the program to focus on his music activities^[22]. He is now currently a permanent member of the TV show Star Golden Bell.

At the end of May, MBLAQ participated in GOMTV's Making the Artist, a small documentary on their life as artists^[23]. MBLAQ filmed a total of four episodes documenting their promotions for Y.

Following their promotions for Y, MBLAQ were cast in the final series of M.Net's 'Celebrities Go to School'^[24]. Their mentor for the show is actor Kim Soo-Ro. The show started airing in August 2010.

MBLAQ have filmed a cameo in Rain's 2010 drama Fugitive (Korean: 도망자), where filming took place at the Saitama JEFF Hall^[25]. The members of MBLAQ have also made an appearance in Joon's drama Housewife Kim Kwan Ja's third Activity.

[edit]Endorsements

In 2009, Cheon Doong featured in a CF with the Wonder Girls for Mori Stylish Coffee^[26]

The year 2010 resulted in a few endorsement deals for MBLAQ which included TB Jeans (TBJ)^[27], Cacao Black CF^{[citation needed]} which featured MBLAQ's song Oh Yeah, Pink Wings Charity Campaign^[28], and an endorsement deal with Chapstick. MBLAQ released two songs, two MVs and a music drama for Chapstick.
Individual endorsements include Joon for HITE Beer ^[29] and Miero Fibre with figure skater Kwak Min-Jung^[30]. Cheon Doong was featured in a CF for Tropicana Sparkling which, in addition to being a parody of MBLAQ's Y MV, also incorporated MBLAQ's song Y and MV into the CF^{[citation needed]}.

DBSK

2005–2006: Big Bang debut

Main article: Big Bang (Korean band)

Prior to his involvement with YG Entertainment, Choi was an underground rapper and a childhood friend of G-Dragon, another member of Big Bang.^[2] G-Dragon stated that the two were "neighborhood friend[s] from middle school" and would often dance and rap together.^[3] Although G-Dragon later moved away and the two "became distant", he contacted Choi again when YG Entertainment was scouting for candidates to create a boy band.^[3] The pair recorded several demos and sent them to Yang Hyun Suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, who later asked Choi to audition.^[2] Choi was initially rejected by the record label, which deemed him too "chubby" to fit the "idealistic version" of an idol.^[2] Choi later stated that he "went home and exercised really hard because I wanted to join YG Entertainment."^[2] Six months later, he returned for another audition and was signed on.^[2]

Choosing the stage name of T.O.P. (Korean: 탑), he became one of the two rappers in the group Big Bang, alongside G-Dragon. The two were paired with four others: Taeyang, Daesung,Seungri, and So-1; a documentation of their training was aired to promote them.^[4] So-1 was dropped by the record label, and Big Bang made its official debut with five members.^[5] Their first album, Since 2007, was a fair success,^[6] and included T.O.P.'s first solo song "Big Boy." The group achieved mainstream success with the release of the song "Lie" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojinmal) from their 2007 mini-album Always, which topped several charts upon its release. The singles, "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa) from the mini-album Hot Issueand "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru) from Stand Up, became chart-toppers as well.^[7]^[8]

[edit]2007–present: Solo development

Following the release of the band's albums and singles, T.O.P. began working on his solo career. In April 2007, he was featured with fellow Big Bang members Taeyang and G-Dragon on singer Lexy's single "Super Fly" for her album Rush. Later that summer, he appeared as an actor in Red Roc’s "Hello" music video.^[9] He later became the first member of Big Bang to venture into acting, starring in the KBS2 drama, I Am Sam,.^[1] portraying the school's top fighter, Chae Musin. He also took the role of MC of MBC's Music Core on November 10, 2007, only to resign in April of the following year. In 2008, he collaborated with R&B artist Gummy on the song "I'm Sorry" for her album Comfort, and later with singer Uhm Jung Hwa for her single "D.I.S.C.O."

T.O.P later put his solo career on hold while he joined his group for their promotional activities. After more than a year of promoting Big Bang's materials, he returned to acting, playing the assassin Vick in the critically acclaimed^[10] Korean television drama Iris.^[11] T.O.P. also recorded the song "Hallelujah" for the drama's soundtrack with Taeyang and G-Dragon. Following Iris, T.O.P. and Seungri appeared in the teenage suspense drama, My 19.^[12].

T.O.P filmed the movie 71: Into the Fire which released in June 2010.He received many good critics and praisings for his acting , the movie hit 1 million views in a week ,making it the first movie of the 2010 to reach that number of views in South Korea. ^[13] He is also in preparation for his solo debut.^[14] During Big Bang's Big Show concert in January 2010, T.O.P. performed his new single "Turn It Up." YG Entertainmentreleased a music video teaser for "Turn It Up" on June 14, 2010 which revealed the release date for the full music video to be June 21, 2010. The teaser itself received over 200,000 views within 48 hours of its original posting on YouTube. The official music video was released at noon in South Korea, with over 1,000,000 views and comments in just a few minutes.^[15] He is also the first Korean artist to have his song release worldwide on iTunes. On 29th October 2010, he won the Hallyu Popularity Award in the 47th Grand Bell Film Awards.

Ze:a

Debuted with "Mazeltov" earlier January this year,the boys have been doing well performing on stage.After taking a short rest,the boys are going to release their second single on 25th march.

Shinee

2008: Debut and The Shinee World

On May 23, 2008, the group's first mini-album, Replay was released from Label company, SM Entertainment.^[2] The mini-album debuted at #10 on the Korean music charts and peaked at #8, selling 17,957 copies in the first half of 2008.^[3]

On June 7, 2008, Shinee participated in the Dream Concert in the Seoul Olympic Stadiumalong with other South Korean singers and groups.^[4]^[5] The group won their first award, "Rookie of the Month", at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards on June 22, 2008.^[6] Shinee took part in SMTown Live '08, which was held on August 18, 2008.^[7] On August 23, 2008, they attended MNet's 20's Choice Awards 2008, where they won the "Hot New Star" award.^[8]

Shinee released their first full-length album, The Shinee World, on August 28, 2008.^[9] The album debuted on the charts at #3, selling 30,000 copies.^[10] The first single released from the album was "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" (산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen), lit. You Are Like Oxygen), a cover of "Show the World" by Martin Hoberg Hedegaard,^[11] originally written by the Danish songwriting and production team of Thomas Troelsen, Remee and Lucas Secon.^[12] On September 18, 2008, Shinee's "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" was the No. 1 song on M! Countdown.^[13] A few days later, Shinee received the "Mutizen" award for the same single on SBS's Popular Songs.

Shinee performing at the SMTown Live Tour in Bangkok

Shinee participated in the 5th Asia Song Festival, where they received the "Best New Artist" award with Japanese girl group, Berryz Kobo.^[14] The group attended the 2008 Style Icon Awards on October 30, 2008, where they won the "Best Style Icon Award".^[15] On the same day, a repackage album of "The SHINee World" titled "Amigo" or "A.Mi.Go." was released. The re-packaged album contained three new songs: "Forever or Never", a remix of "Sa. Gye. Han (Love Should Go On)" (사.계.한) and the promotional single "A.Mi.Go (Amigo)" (아.미.고).^[16] "A.Mi.Go" is a shortened version of the Korean phrase "Areumdaun Minyeorueljoahamyeon Gosaenghanda" (아름다운 미녀를 좋아하면 고생한다 lit. Heart Aches When You Fall In Love With a Beauty).^[12]

On November 15, 2008, Shinee won the "Best Male Rookie" award at the 10th annual MNet's KM Music Festival, beating fellow newcomers U-KISS, 2PM, 2AM and Mighty Mouth.^[17] At the 23rd Annual Golden Disk Awards, they performed a medley of their songs, "Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)", "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" and "A.Mi.Go (Amigo)" and won the award for "YEPP Newcomer Album".^[18]

2009–present: Mini albums and Lucifer

In early February, 2009, Shinee won "Best Newcomer" award along with Davichi and Mighty Mouth at the 18th Seoul Music Awards.^[19] Later, SM Entertainment announced that Shinee would make their comeback with their second mini album Romeo on May 21, 2009.^[20] On May 18, "Juliette", the first single was released,^[21]^[22] an instrumental remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It".^[23] It was later announced that their comeback was going to be delayed due to Onew damaging his teeth and the release of the mini-album was pushed back to May 25, 2009.^[21]^[24] Shinee eventually had their return performance on June 5, 2009, on KBS's Music Bank, where they received the award for first place.^[25]

The group released their third mini-album, 2009, Year Of Us, on October 19, 2009, 5 months after the release of Romeo. SM Entertainment stated that this EP would showcase the group's vocals and demonstrate their unique qualities.^[26]^[27] The lead single, "Ring Ding Dong", was released digitally on October 14; the group had their comeback stage on October 16, on KBS's Music Bank.^[28] In early December, 2009, Shinee won the "Popularity" award along with fellow labelmate group, Super Junior, at the 24th Golden Disk Awards.^[29] In February, 2010, the group won the main "BonSang" award at the 19th Seoul Music Awards.^[30]

SM Entertainment revealed individual photo teasers of each member for the new album starting with Minho on July 8, 2010 and ending with Key on July 12. The teaser for the music video of lead single was released on July 14, 2010 at the official channel of SM Entertainment onYouTube.^[31] The group was originally set to have their comeback stage on KBS Music Bank, July 16, to begin their promotions for the new album, however,^[32] due to Minho injuring his ankle during a Dream Team 2 filming on July 8, the comeback was postponed to July 23, 2010.^[33]

The second full length studio album, entitled Lucifer, was released on July 19, 2010 in South Korea. The music video promoting the lead single, also named "Lucifer", was released on the same day.^[34] Within hours of the release, the album topped various physical and digital sales charts in South Korea.^[35] The songs on the album "were more carefully selected than ever" and the album is said to "[give] listeners a great chance to experience the diverse musical characters and more mature vocal skills of the members."^[36] The group made their comeback on July 23, 2010 at KBS Music Bank.^[33] Choreography of the Lucifer was released on the same YouTube channel on August 3, 2010.^[37]

The studio album was re-released a repackaged version, entitled Hello, on October 1, 2010. The music video of the promotional single, also named "Hello", was released on October 4, 2010. The re-released version included three new tracks.

Image and artistry

Shinee is known for their fashion style, created by designer Ha Sang Baek (하상백), which features high-top sneakers, skinny jeans and colorful sweaters.^[32] Their style has created a fashion trend amongst students which the media dubbed the "Shinee Trend".^[2] This has led to product endorsements, and the band has promoted Smart,^[38] Korean cosmetic company Nana's B,^[39] and Reebok.^[40]

Other activities

Shinee was the topic of a mini-series reality show Shinee's YunHaNam, which was hosted by MNet. The show ran from August 8, 2008 to October 16, 2008, with a total of twelve episodes. Each episode featured the band members going on a date with an older woman, after which she would chose one member for a solo date.^[41] The group also recorded a song, "Stand By Me", for the Korean drama adaptation of popular manga series Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio.^[42] In addition to promoting Smart, Shinee recorded a song titled "Blue Pink Song", to further promote their product.^[38] Shinee recorded a digital single "Bodyguard" to promote Samsung's Anycall mobile phone.^[43] They have also recorded a song titled "Countdown" for drama series Dream and "Fly High" for Prosecutor Princess.

In January 2010, Shinee starred in the second season of KBS's Hello Baby, taking care of a four year old boy named Jung Yoogeun.^[44] In September 2010, the group also contributed to the soundtrack of the Korean National Tourism Organization's web drama, Haru.

2003–2005: Debut

Before their debut, the group was offered three tentative names: O Jang Yukbu (오장육부 lit. The Five Visceras), Jeonseoleul Meokgo Saneun Gorae (전설을 먹고 사는 고래 lit. A Whale That Eats Legends), and Dong Bang Bul Pae (동방불패, the Korean title of Ashes of Time). They decided on Dong Bang Bul Pae; however, the name was rejected because the Hanja was not aesthetically pleasing, and the name was changed to Dong Bang Shin Gi, which was named by Lee Soo Man's acquaintance.^[9]

TVXQ made their debut on December 26, 2003 during a BoA and Britney Spears showcase, where they performed their debut single "Hug" and an a cappella rendition of "O Holy Night" with BoA.^[10]^[11] The group released their debut single "Hug" in January 14, 2004; it peaked at #4 on the monthly charts and sold a total of 169,532 copies, making it the fourteenth best-selling record of the year.^[12]^[13]^{[fn 1]} Their second single, "The Way U Are" (July 2004), debuted at #2 spot on the charts, becoming the ninth best-selling-record of the year, selling 214,069 copies.^[13]^[14] TVXQ released their debut album, Tri-Angle (October 2004). Tri-angle debuted atop the charts and sold a total of 242,580 copies, making it the year's eighth best-selling record.^[13]

In April 2005, TVXQ debuted in Japan under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone with the single "Stay with Me Tonight".^[15] They released their second Japanese single, "Somebody to Love", before returning to Korea and releasing their second Korean album Rising Sun. Rising Sundebuted atop the charts and became the fourth best-selling-record of 2005 with a total of 222,472 copies sold.^[16] TVXQ ended the year with two releases: their third Japanese single, "My Destiny", and a Korean single with label-mate Super Junior, "Show Me Your Love". The latter debuted atop the charts and sold 49,945 copies, making it the thirty-fifth best-selling record of the year.^[16]^[17] At the end of the year, TVXQ received the Best Music Video award for the song "Rising Sun" and the People's Choice Award at the 2005 Mnet KM Music Video Festival.^[18]

[edit]2006–2007: Foray into Asia

TVXQ began 2006 with their first international tour, "Rising Sun 1st Asia Tour". In addition to South Korea, they toured in China, Thailand, and Malaysia, making them the first Korean performers to hold a concert in Malaysia.^[3] In March, the group released their fourth Japanese single, "Asu wa Kuru Kara" (明日は来るから lit. Because Tomorrow Will Come^?), and their debut Japanese album, Heart, Mind and Soul. The album debuted on the weekly Oricon album chart at #25 with 9,554 copies sold.^[19] Their fifth Japanese single, "Rising Sun/Heart, Mind and Soul", released a month later, debuted on the Oricon singles chart at #22.^[20] To support the album, TVXQ held their first Japanese tour, 1st Live Tour 2006: Heart, Mind and Soul, from May to June.^[21] TVXQ released two more Japanese singles, "Begin" and "Sky". The latter debuted at #6, making it the group's first single to reach the Top Ten.^[22]^[23]^[24] In the summer, TVXQ performed in Avex's annual A-Nation summer concert.^[25]

The group resumed their Korean activities with the release of their third album, "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. ("O"-正.反.合. lit. "O"-Thesis.Antithesis.Synthesis)^{[fn 2]} in September 2006. Like their previous Korean albums, "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. debuted atop the charts; with a total of 349,317 copies sold, it became the number-one record of the year.^[27]^[28] Two months after "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap, the group released another Japanese single, "Miss You/"O" - Sei-Han-Gō" (miss you/"O"‐正・反・合 lit. Miss You/"O" - Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis^?), which debuted on the chart at #3, making it their first Top Five single.^[29] At the 2006 MKMF Music Festival, TVXQ won four awards, "Best Artist of the Year", "Best Group", "Mnet.com" and "Mnet Plus Mobile People's Choice Award".^[30] At the 16th Music Seoul Festival, TVXQ won three awards including a "Daesang" award.^[31] The group won another "Daesang" award at the 21st Golden Disk Awards 2006, in addition to a "Bonsang".^[32] At the SBS Gayo Awards 2006, TVXQ won another "Daesang" and "Bonsang" award.^[33]

TVXQ began 2007 with a new Japanese single, "Step By Step", which was followed by their second Asian tour, The 2nd Asia Tour Concert 'O'.^[34] The tour took place in Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing.^[35] In March, the group released their tenth Japanese single, "Choosey Lover", and their second Japanese album, Five in the Black. Both debuted in the Top 10 of their respective charts, the former at #9 and the latter at #10.^[36] In May, the group attended the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards Japan and won the "Best Buzz Asia in Korea" award for their album "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap.^[37] From June to December 2007, the group released a string of five singles: "Lovin' You", "Summer: Summer Dream/Song for You/Love in the Ice", "Shine / Ride On", "Forever Love" and "Together". "Summer: Summer Dream/Song for You/Love in the Ice" reached #2 on the Oricon, making it the group's highest-charting Japanese single to that point. TVXQ also collaborated with label-mate Kumi Koda for her thirty-eighth single, "Last Angel", which was used as the theme song for the Japanese release of Resident Evil: Extinction.^[38]

[edit]2008–2009: Commercial success

TVXQ performing at SM Town Live in Bangkok

TVXQ released their sixteenth Japanese single, "Purple Line", on January 16, 2008. It debuted atop the Oricon, becoming the group's first number-one in Japan and making them the first foreign male group to have a number-one single in Japan.^[39] They then released their third Japanese album, T, which debuted at #4 on the Oricon Weekly album chart.^[40] TVXQ's label Rhythm Zone, announced the "Trick" project where five singles would be released consecutively for six weeks, from February to March and each single would contain a solo track by a member.^[41]^[42] The group released their twenty-second single, "Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta" in April. The single became another number-one for the group and made them the first non-Japanese Asians with two number-one singles since Ou-Yang Fei Fei set the record 24 years before.^[43]^[44] They returned to Korea to participate in the 14th Annual Dream Concert at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul on June 7.^[45] On June 12, TVXQ concluded their Asia Tour in Beijing which had begun on February 23, 2007 in Seoul.^[35] TVXQ returned to Japan and released their twenty-third single, "Dōshite Kimi o Suki ni Natte Shimattandarō?" The single topped the chart, making TVXQ the first foreign artists to have three number-one singles on the Oricon.^[46] They performed at Avex's 20th anniversary meeting and at A-Nation '08.^[47]^[48] In August, TVXQ returned to Korea once again to take part in SMTown Live '08. They performed alongside label-mates BoA, Cheon Sang Ji Hee the Grace, Zhang Liyin, Girls' Generation, Shinee and Super Junior.^[49]

The group's fourth Korean album, Mirotic, was slated to be released on September 24 but due to the large number of pre-orders was pushed back two days.^[50] Like their previous Korean album, Mirotic debuted atop the charts with 307,974 copies sold.^[51]^[52] In early January 2009, the album's sales totaled 502,837 copies, making it the first Korean album in six years to pass the 500,000 mark.^[53]^[54] In October, TVXQ released "Jumon: Mirotic", the Japanese version of Mirotic's title track. The single topped the Oricon chart, breaking the record that the group had set with their previous single.^[55]^[56] TVXQ attended Kōhaku Uta Gassen Music Festival on New Year's Eve, making them the first Korean group to attend.^[57]

Their twenty-fifth single "Bolero/Kiss the Baby Sky/Wasurenaide", released in January 2009, became another number-one for the group.^[58]^[59] In March, TVXQ released their twenty-sixth single "Survivor" which debuted at #3 on the charts subsequently ending their number-one streak.^[60] "Survivor" was followed by their fourth Japanese album, The Secret Code, which debuted at #2 on the charts.^[61] To support the album they embarked on their fourth concert tour, Tohoshinki 4th Live Tour 2009: The Secret Code, which ended at the Tokyo Dome, making them the first Korean group to perform there.^[62]^[63]

On April 22, 2009, they released their twenty-seventh single "Share the World/We Are!". The single debuted atop the charts, extending their Oricon record.^[64] Their twenty-eighth single, "Stand by U", was released on July 1, 2009 and debuted at #2 on the charts.

The group's live DVD titled "4th Live Tour 2009 - The Secret Code - Final in Tokyo Dome" was released on September 30. According to the 10/12 Oricon DVD Ranking, it sold more than 171,000 copies, their personal best for sales in this category. In addition, this is the first time in twenty years for a non-Japanese Asian artist to get first place in the DVD rankings, exceeding previous foreign artists who have attained this ranking included The Beatles' "The Beatles Anthology (Special Price Edition Edition)" which was released in March 2003 and Led Zeppelin's "Led Zeppelin DVD", which was released in June 2003 and have held that position for foreign artist getting first for 6 years and 3 months since. Also, based on the sale numbers of their DVD, they broke their personal record by pre-selling 107,000 copies. Their previous records include their 3rd Live Tour 2008 - T which was released in August 2008 and was last recorded as having sold 112,000 copies, and All About DBSK Season 3 which sold 66,000 copies so far. This time, their DVD sold more than twice that amount with a total sales of 171,000 copies and broke the record for the highest initial sales for foreign artists.^[65]

[edit]2010–present: Suspended activities and comebacks

Title

The title Hana yori Dango, is a pun on a Japanese saying, "Dumplings before Flowers" (花より団子, "Hana yori Dango" lit. "dango (rice dumplings) rather than flowers"). "Dumplings before flowers" is a well-known Japanese expression that refers to people who attend Hanami, but rather than enjoying the beauty of the flowers, head straight for the food vendor booths, preferring tangible things like food and drink to the abstract appreciation of the flowers’ beauty.^[4] The author creates the pun by changing the kanji of the title to mean "Boys over Flowers" (花より男子^?). Note that "boys" (男子^?) is normally read danshi (だんし^?), but the furigana indicates that it reads dango (だんご^?).

[edit]Plot

Makino Tsukushi, a working-class girl, attends an elite school called Eitoku Academy (英徳学園Eitoku Gakuen ^?), populated by children and older youths from rich, high-society families. She is the "weed" of the school, surrounded by all the rich kids, including the "Flower Four" (F4). The F4 leader and son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan, Domyouji Tsukasa, takes an interest in Tsukushi, because she is the only girl at Eitoku who does not fawn over him. However, his hot-headed nature and bullying ways are originally a major turn-off for Tsukushi, who has her sights set on someone else (Hanazawa Rui).

The violinist Hanazawa Rui, Tsukasa's best friend, becomes Tsukushi's first serious romantic interest. He is a quiet and cool guy, but he has a soft spot for his close friend and Tsukushi's idol, the model Todou Shizuka, whom he harbored feelings for since childhood. His character is a bit complex, and always has changing feelings for Tsukushi, but above all cares about her a lot.

The other two members of the F4 are Mimasaka Akira, the laid-back peacemaker of the group, and Nishikado Sōjirō, an unrepentant playboy. They both usually have at least one girlfriend at any one time; Akira prefers older women because the women of his household (his mother and two younger sisters) are quite childish. Sojiro is happy to be in casual relationships with many women, although we later discover that at one time he was in love with a childhood friend.

Over the course of the series, however, Tsukushi's feelings evolve, and she begins to appreciate the degree of change that occurred in Tsukasa once he fell in love with her. He becomes fiercely loyal to Tsukushi and believes in her beyond all doubt, and slowly gets her to see him in a different light. The physical obstacles and emotional challenges of their rocky high-school courtship form the basis of the story. Other themes include Tsukushi's attempt to fit in at the school, the problems of her family's lifestyle and income, and the decadent lifestyle of upper-class Japanese girls.

[edit]Characters

Tsukushi Makino (牧野つくし Makino Tsukushi^?) is the main female character in Boys Over Flowers, and is one of the very few students at the prestigious Eitoku High School to come from an 'unwealthy' family. Her family is so poor that they can barely afford to pay Makino's tuition, but her parents push her to continue at the school so she can 'seduce a rich man' and take them out of poverty. Tsukushi is not thrilled about being stuck at Eitoku, and is determined to remain as invisible as possible until graduation. However, she sticks her neck out to defend her friend, who accidentally bumps into F4 leader Tsukasa Domyouji on a staircase. The next day, a red tag is found hanging in Tsukushi's locker, the F4's "declaration of war", officially marking her for future torment from the F4 and the rest of the student body. But, unlike most of the F4's targets, Makino stands up for herself, showing how strong a 'weed' can be. She attacks Domyouji in the hallway and presents him with a red tag of her own. Because of this unexpected retaliation and steadfast resistance to the hazing that he had never encountered from a victim before, Tsukasa develops a crush on her. Initially, Tsukushi hates all of the F4 except Hanazawa Rui (for whom she harbors romantic feelings). But, as Rui goes off to chase after Shizuka, Tsukushi slowly falls in love with the hotheaded leader, Domyouji. In this process, she lets her fierce determination and her stubborn, hardworking ways show through, and in the end, turns all of the F4 into her friends. In the end, Makino and Domyouji become a couple and it is hinted that they will get married when the time is right.

Voiced by: Maki Mochida (Japanese), Kelly Sheridan (English)

Tsukasa Domyouji (道明寺司 Dōmyōji Tsukasa^?) is the leader of the F4, and comes to immediately fall head over heals in love with Tsukushi. Tsukasa is the heir to Domyouji Enterprises, and his family is extremely rich. They own various houses around the world, including an actual island, a house in Canada, and a house in New York City where his parents live most of the year. Tsukasa spent much of his childhood with the rest of the F4; his parents were always overseas, and his older sister—as loving as she could be—was always busy studying and eventually married and moved to New York. His mother, Kaede, is cold to him, and although she loves him, wants to control his life for the sake of preserving the family name. Tsukasa often calls her "the old hag" and "witch," an opinion shared by nearly all of his friends. Tsukushi's retaliation in the hallway sparks Tsukasa's interest, and he is immediately attracted to her strength and persona (the traits he used to admire in his older sister). Despite the harassment he puts her through to keep up appearances, he also constantly tries to do things to impress her - such as trying unsuccessfully to straighten his hair after she tells him that she can't stand his curly-top. Because he has grown up in luxury and is used to always getting his way, Domyouji is initially not very good at interacting with Tsukushi. He frequently makes fun of her family's poverty and responds angrily when she refuses to do as he says. He shows on many occasions to be extremely possessive and protective of Tsukushi, and loses his temper when anyone tries to get too close to her. As time passes, he begins to mature and develop a greater understanding of how to interact positively with others, a consequence of his love for Tsukushi. He later takes over his family's business and works internationally, but remains faithful to Tsukushi.

Voiced by: Naoki Miyashita (Japanese), Michael Adamthwaite (English)

Rui Hanazawa (花沢類 Hanazawa Rui^?) is Tsukasa's best friend who becomes Tsukushi's first serious romantic interest. He is generally quiet, but has a soft spot for his close friend and Tsukushi's idol, the model Shizuka Todo, whom he has harbored feelings for since childhood. His character is a bit complex, and his feelings for Tsukushi are in a nearly constant state of flux (varying from annoyance to love), but above all cares about her deeply. In season two of Hana Yori Dango, he grows closer with Makino, but he also claimed that he loved her and that he is the one that would make her happy, not Domyouji. They eventually become very close friends and she depends on him as a confidant. According to Tsukushi, Rui Hanazawa is the one who can heal her wounds and make her feel happy and calm again when hurt by feelings for Tsukasa. Although he still loves Tsukushi, Rui eventually comes to accept Tsukasa and Tsukushi's relationship, vowing to stay by their side to make sure their love goes smoothly. It is suggested that while Rui will always care deeply for Tsukushi, he will eventually meet someone special one day.

Rui has Asperger syndrome, which makes socializing difficult for him. He has trouble recognizing facial expressions: for example, when trying to draw Tsukasa, he drew an expressionless egg with curly hair. These are personality traits which he still holds. Voiced by: Kouji Yamamoto (Japanese), Stephen Park (English)

Sojirou Nishikado (西門総二郎 Nishikado Sōjirō^?) is quiet and very interested in the tea ceremony, which is his family's business. For the most part, he and Mimasaka usually work to keep the peace within the group and following Domyouji. He reunites with his first love, Sara, whom he stood up and missed his chance with during his freshman year in high school. Later they confess their love for each other, but the relationship is unsalvageable (in the manga they both recognize that they missed their one chance to be together, and in the drama she has become engaged to someone else). Makino's close friend, Yuuki has feelings for him and it is uncertain whether he feels the same way. He is also one of the two playboys in the F4.

Voiced by: Yoshihiko Akaida (Japanese), Andrew Francis (English)

Akira Mimasaka (美作あきら Mimasaka Akira^?) is arguably the kindest and most mature member of F4. His family is very powerful in the Japanese underground (in the manga they own a large trading company). He keeps his cool and rarely loses his temper, although when he does, even Domyouji has to run for the hills. Akira is the other of the group's two playboys. His tastes tend towards older women, mainly because of his young mother, who is only 38 years of age. He has two younger sisters who are twins. He is also the one F4 member who likes to use only cash. Initially, he secretly resents that he has to be the peacemaker each time things go wrong within F4, and sometimes doubt if what F4 has is truly friendship, but eventually Tsukushi makes him realize that since he helps balance F4 out, a supporter if you will, that if he ever leaves them, then F4 will fall apart. With that, he comes to accept his role in F4, coming to terms with himself.

Voiced by: Yuuta Mochizuki (Japanese), Alistair Abell (English)

Yuuki Matsuoka (松岡優紀 Matsuoka Yūki^?) is Tsukushi's best friend, who work together at a dango shop after school. Yuuki offers Tsukushi a lot of encouragement and advice about her situation with the F4. As she gains more familiarity with them, she develops romantic feelings for Sojirou.

Voiced by: Kanako Tobimatsu (Japanese), Tabitha St. Germain (English)

Shizuka Todou (藤堂静 Tōdōu Shizuka^?) is a rich heiress and childhood friend of the F4. She and Rui particularly are very close; she was the first person who was able to get him to come out of his shell, and the two were inseparable for much of their childhood. She began a modeling career during her high school years, but shocks everyone at her twentieth birthday party by announcing that she plans to give up her career as a model as well as her position as the Todo heiress to move to Paris and become a human rights lawyer. In the drama, Shizuka was the inspiration that convinced Makino to attend Eitoku, and later to pursue a legal career. Rui initially accompanies Shizuka to Paris at Tsukushi's request, but their relationship suffers as Shizuka spends more and more time at work. Eventually, Rui returns to Japan in frustration. Shizuka remains in Paris and eventually marries to a lawyer there, giving her bouquet to Tsukushi.

Voiced by: Keiko Imamura (Japanese), Nicole Oliver (English)

Kazuya Aoike (青池和也 Aoike Kazuya^?) is another one of Tsukushi's childhood friends. He enrolls at Eitoku after his family comes into money through some real-estate deals. The other students at Eitoku draw a sharp distinction between Kazuya's "new money" and their "old money." The F4 in particular mention this difference fairly often. Tsukushi is both relieved to have a friend at Eitoku, and worried for Kazuya's safety if he continues to hang around her. She is particularly worried about Domyouji, who clearly considers Kazuya a romantic threat. Kazuya is fiercely loyal to and harbors romantic feelings for Tsukushi, but also relatively clueless and not very quick to pick up on things. He is not featured in the drama.

Voiced by: Ietomi Yoji (Japanese), Brad Swaile (English)

Makiko Endo (遠藤真紀子 Endō Makiko^?) is one of Tsukushi's only friends at Eitoku in the beginning of the series. Tsukushi rescues her from inevitable torment after she collides with Domyouji on the stairs. Although she's forced to break off their friendship to prevent becoming a target of abuse, Makiko finds ways to help Tsukushi, sending her secret messages of encouragement or to warn her of impending danger. After Tsukushi become best friends with the F4, Makiko seems not feared about being near with Tsukushi. She always cares about Tsukushi's feeling, and helps Tsukushi's bad condition. In the live-action versions, her character is merged with Sakurako.

Voiced by: Fuuko Misaki (Japanese), Nicole Bouma (English)

Sakurako Sanjo (三条桜子 Sanjō Sakurako^?) was the object of torment of the children she went to school with because she was born "ugly". When she confessed her love to Domyouji, he traumatized her by making fun of her looks. She also friend of Makiko (Tsukuhi's best friend in Eitoku) when they still in Elementary school. But she moved to Germany because her family's business. Sakurako undergoes plastic surgery and returns to Eitoku, determined to use her new beauty to take her revenge on Domyouji by making him fall in love with her. She met Tsukushi when she asked for help in Shizuka's birthday party. She acts sweet and innocent, but lets her true colors show when she thinks no one is watching. When she hears of his growing attraction to Tsukushi, she conspires with her friend Thomas to destroy her. She has Thomas drug Tsukushi at a club and then distributes photos of the two of them in bed together around the school, causing the student body to turn on her for betraying Domyouji. When Tsukushi finds out that Sakurako is behind of this, Sakurako tells Tsukushi that she only used her in order to take revenge on Tsukasa and that she doesn't need any friends and says that ugly and average people like Tsukushi shouldn't be near handsome men like F4. When Domyouji eventually refuses Sakurako's advances and sees through her plans, Sakurako becomes remorseful. She is then bullied by whole student body because of her plastic surgery. But, Tsukushi, the one who had been hurt by Sakurako, defends her. Tsukushi then says that she still can't forgive her. Sakurako also takes the advantage to be near with Tsukasa when Tsukasa breaks up with Tsukushi because of her romance with Rui. But Tsukasa only pretends to be close with Sakurako to make Tsukushi jealous. At first, it's unknown whether Sakurako and Tsukushi can still be friends or not, because Sakurako becomes cruel when she is with Tsukasa. But, as the story progresses, Sakurako seems to be more friendly and sometimes defends Tsukushi from the bad girls.

Voiced by: Mikako Sakurada

Junpei Oribe (Oribe Junpei) is a kohai (junior) of Tskushi's that saves her from being picked on after she gets back from the trip to Canada. He first appears as a nerdy boy, with glasses and an oblivious attitude. He is actually a famous model for a well-known magazine, hiding his identity in school through his glasses. Tskushi sees him as the only other person at school who thinks the way she thinks after he says he only needs to endure two more years. Junpei's real motive is to lure Domyouji for revenge on his older brother who got sent to the hospital by Domyouji in middle school, using Tskushi as bait. Both Domyouji and Tskushi end up in the hospital after a hostage situation where Domyouji gets his ribs broken. Junpei later apologizes to Tskushi, having developed feelings for her— but she denies his apology.

Voiced by:

Ookawahara Shigeru (大河原滋 Okawahara Shigeru^?) is the princess of the Okawahara Corporation. She becomes the fiancee of Tsukasa and at first she is completely against it but soon she warms up to Tsukasa. She is extremely tomboy (like bravely punch Tsukasa or beat his earlobe), but girlish sometimes. Shigeru befriends Tsukushi and often asks her to help her get Tsukasa, not realising that Tsukasa likes Makino and Makino in return harbours feelings for Tsukasa. At first, Tsukushi is very mad with her (because of her engagement with Tsukasa), but after Tsukushi sees her innocent and kindness toward her, she accept to help her (although Tsukushi sometimes get mad sees Tsukasa and Shigeru together). In the end, she realises that Tsukasa will never love her and so decides to her two friends get together. On the surface, Shigeru seems aggressive and "boyish" but she is actually quite girly.

Voiced by: Emika Sato

Tsubaki Domyouji (道明寺椿 Dōmyōji Tsubaki^?) is Tsukasa's sister. She is four years older than Tsukasa. When she and Tsukasa were little, she cared Tsukasa and tried to teach Tsukasa to not act naughty (although he does) because their parents were always overseas. When she was a student in Eitoku, she did some modelling in Paris, which made her an idol at Eitoku. After she graduated from Eitoku, she dated a man (not the rich one) that made her mother force them apart so Tsubaki could marry a wealthier man. She is one of the few people who is not afraid to stand up to her brother, a trait that Tsukasa secretly admires in her. After struggling to date the man she loved, she finally she gives up and marries the wealthy heir to a hotel company and moved to Los Angeles with him. Although she has obtained a degree of happiness in her marriage, she often gets sad and travels home to Japan when her husband is busy overseas. She begs Tsukasa not to make the same mistake in love. She sees Tsukushi as a younger sister, and always helps with her relationship with Tsukasa. According to people near Tsukasa (not his mother), her character is similar to Tsukushi.

Voiced by: Chiho Ohkawa

Kaede Domyouji (道明寺楓 Dōmyōji Kaede^?) is Tsukasa's controlling mother. She is the chairwoman of Domyouji Enterprises. She is very clever and devious and hatches many schemes to break apart her son and Tsukushi, whom she sees as an "insect" that must be squashed for the sake of the family. She meets Tsukushi at Tsukasa's birthday party when Tsukasa is going to introduce Tsukushi to her. She saw Tsukushi as a stepping stone for her son's future. Once, she paid Tsukushi 50 million Yen to get Tsukushi to agree not to see Tsukasa again. However, Tsukushi's mother refused the money- and poured salt on her head because she thought that Kaede had insulted Tsukushi. She refused to give up, trying to force Tsukasa to marry Shigeru (the princess from Ookawahara Corporation). When she found out that Tsukasa was going to break up with Shigeru, she got mad and forced Tsukasa to marry Shigeru quickly. Tsukushi was thrilled at first, but she was insulted after Kaede tried to buy her off again. When her relationship with Tsukasa was back on, Kaede became angry and forced Tsukasa to stay home from school so that he wouldn't see Tsukushi again. After Tsukushi learns this, she helps Tsukasa come back to school. This event causes the two of them to become angry with each other. Kaede slaps Tsukushi, which makes Tsukushi so angry she finally snapped and bravely slapped Kaede back. After that, Kaede stops interfering in her son's life.

Voiced by: Mika Doi

[edit]Media

[edit]Manga

Main article: List of Boys Over Flowers chapters

Recently in July 2006, a short story was released in issue 15 of Margaret magazine.

[edit]Anime

An anime series was produced by Toei Animation and broadcast by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. It ran from 8 September 1996 to 31 August 1997 with a total of 51 episodes. The storyline is based on the manga version with little skipping in storyline. The opening title of this anime series features Tsukushi is dancing with F4 and the whole students. In 1997, anime movie was also produced, however it deviated from the plot of the actual manga as it was set in an alternate universe and characters were placed into new roles to suit the movie's new story. The anime movie is reminiscent of the American film Flashdance, Tsukushi is an aspiring dancer attempting to win a role in a large stage production.

2007–2008: Debut, The Wonder Begins, and The Wonder Years

Wonder Girls performing "Irony" atHanyang University in May 2007. From left to right: So Hee, Hyun A, Ye Eun, Sun Ye and Sun Mi.

As a group, the Wonder Girls were introduced through the program called MTV Wonder Girls which was filmed and directed by MTV. The first four episodes outlined the characteristics and profiles of each member and showcased their schedules for the day. Not long after selecting Ye Eun as the fifth member, the Wonder Girls had their showcase in the MTV Studio. In the showcase, they performed a cover of "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls and their own songs, such as "Irony" and "미안한 마음" ("It's Not Love"). Sun Ye did the solo by singing Destiny's Child's "Stand Up for Love" while Hyunashowed off her dancing skills with a solo dance. The other three members — Ye Eun, Sun Mi and So Hee — performed a cover of Janet Jackson's "Together Again".

The Wonder Girls officially debuted in early 2007 on MBC's 쇼! 음악 중심 ("Show! Music Core"), singing "Irony", the hip-hop single from their debut mini-album, The Wonder Begins. The mini-album sold 11,454 copies in 2007.^[8] The Wonder Girls official fanclub was established, with the name of "Wonderful". Additionally, the group did several showcases in China after receiving Chineselessons.^[9] Throughout the rest of 2007, however, members of the Wonder Girls were beset by various injuries and health problems. On June 25, Sohee was sidelined for a month after tearing a knee ligament falling off a motorcycle during the filming of 뜨거운 것이 좋아 ("I Like It Hot").^[10] The remaining four members continued performing until late July, when Hyuna was removed from the group by her parents due to their concern over her health—in particular, chronic gastroenteritis and fainting spells.^[3] In the autumn of 2007, Good Entertainment, the talent agency sent their trainee Yubin to JYP Entertainment as a replacement for Hyuna. She made her debut three days later in the group's live performance of "Tell Me" on Music Bank .^[11]

Their first full-length album, The Wonder Years, was released the following week with "Tell Me." Due to the last-minute addition of Yubin, the album version does not contain her part. However, the performance version of the song was reworked to include a bridge with rapping by Yubin. The single was a hit and reached number one on various Korean television and internet music charts, including KBS's Music Bank.^{[citation needed]} The choreography for the song was simple and widely imitated: by October, many fan performances of the dance circulated on video sharing sites such as YouTube and Daum,^[12] including one by a group of policemen who were eventually profiled onSBS's Star King. The dance became so popular it was known as the "Tell Me Virus" and earned them the title of 'Korea's Little Sisters'.^{[citation needed]} Videos of the dance came from fans in France and the Philippines, and the song also went to Number 1 in Thailand.^[3]

The Wonder Girls had an extensive promotional schedule for their album and in late 2007 they began performing the second single from the album, "이 바보" ("This Fool"). They made numerous appearances on variety and game shows, sang live on radio, at music festivals, on music shows, and in special joint performances with other groups such as Big Bang and Girls' Generation. MTV has also aired three seasons of The Wonder Life, a reality TV series starring the girls. The Wonder Girls returned to Korea in spring of 2008. In May a picture of each member was released over five days starting with Ye-eun and ending with Sohee. A preview track from the upcoming single was then released. There were rumours that past member Hyuna would be returning to the group; JYP Entertainment confirmed that this was not the case.^[13] Their new single, "So Hot", was released on May 22, 2008; the song topped online charts soon after.^[14]^[15] They then performed in mid-2008 on MBC's Music Core, performing "So Hot" and "This Time". The full single was released soon after containing the title track, the rap version of "Tell Me", "This Time", and "You're Out". Due to vocal cord problems, Yubin temporarily lip-synched her parts under doctor's orders.^[15]

Wonder Girls performing "Nobody" at the 2008 BICHE opening ceremony in October.

The full music video for "Nobody" was released in the early autumn of 2008, and the single was digitally released at the same time. They performed the following weekend on Music Core, Music Bank, and Inkigayo. The song went to #1 on KBS'Music Bank, staying there for four consecutive weeks,^[16] and also won Cyworld's "Song of the Month" award in September and October 2008.^[17] Like "Tell Me", "Nobody" also sparked a dance craze.^[18]

At the 2008 MNet KM Music Festival Awards, the Wonder Girls won three awards, including "Song of the Year" and "Best Music Video" for "Nobody", and "Best Female Group".^[6] The group also won an award at the 2008 Golden Disk Awards for high digital sales.^[19] At the 18th Seoul Music Awards, the Wonder Girls won the Daesang ("Artist of the Year" award) for "Nobody", along two other awards.^[5]

In February 2008, the Wonder Girls joined their producer Park Jin-young for his month-long concert tour through Korea and the United States (including New York City and Los Angeles) as special guests, and took the opportunity to film the music video for "Wishing on a Star" while in New York City.^[20] Park had stated that the concerts were also meant to be a showcase for his other protégés, such as Min, G-Soul, and Lim Jeong Hee.^[21] They were also selected as a top girl group by Virgin Media, which put them amidst girl groups such as the Pussycat Dolls, Girls Aloud, and Danity Kane.^[22] At the end of 2008 the Wonder Girls had earned ₩12 billion (equivalent to $9 million US) as a group.^[23]

[edit]2009: American debut

The Wonder Girls tour started on February 28, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Wonder Girls, along with mentor JYP, then held concerts in the United States, visiting Los Angeles on March 5, La Mirada on March 6, and New York City on March 8.^[24] They also performed for a small crowd at MTV Iggy on March 10. The group then returned to South Korea, holding concerts in late March in Seoul and Busan.^[25] This tour was documented in the M.net reality show Welcome to Wonderland.

After the end of the tour, the Wonder Girls debuted a music video for "Now", a cover of Fin.K.L's single from their third album. Created for a commercial for LG, a version featuring only the dance was released online on April 9, 2009.^[26] The Wonder Girls also started their officialMySpace Music account.^[4] The page confirmed that the group would launch in the United States with the official release of an English version of "Nobody" in the summer of 2009.

In June 2009, JYP Entertainment announced that the Wonder Girls would be joining the Jonas Brothers on the North American leg of theJonas Brothers World Tour 2009.^[27] The company also announced that "Nobody" would be the first English single, followed by "Tell Me",^[27]and that an English album would be forthcoming.^[28] It was later revealed that in order to concentrate on their American debut, both So-hee and Sun-mi dropped out of high school as it was not possible to attend while in the United States.^[29]^[30]

The Wonder Girls released an English version of their single "Nobody" on June 26, 2009, just one day before the start of their tour with the Jonas Brothers. The Wonder Girls were initially signed on for 13 concert dates across the US, but they were eventually given the opportunity to join the Jonas Brothers for a total of 45 concert dates.^[31] "Nobody" eventually made a debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2009, becoming the first Korean group to enter the chart.^[32]^[33] The song also went on to top the Taiwan and Hong Kong music chart.^[34]

[edit]2010: Line-up changes, International tour, and Television Series

On January 22, 2010, it was announced that Sunmi would be postponing her musical career to pursue an academic career; Hye-Rim (Lim), a JYP trainee, will take her place.^[35]^[36] Sunmi continued as a member of the Wonder Girls through the month of February in order to complete scheduled events.

The Wonder Girls are currently preparing their debut English album, with half (6 tracks) to consist of English versions of Korean singles and the other half of brand new material, initially scheduled for release in February 2010.^[7] They were also planning to have a headlining tour in January 2010;^[7] however, due to the departure of Sunmi, plans for both the tour and the album were delayed.^[37]

Due to the popularity of the girls in Asia and worldwide, the electronics brand Sony Ericsson chose the girls to be the ambassadors of Sony Ericsson in the Asia Pacific Region which will see promotional activities in South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan as well as Australia and New Zealand. After the announcement, the girls flew to Singapore where they held a press meeting performing their songs "So Hot", "Tell Me" and "Nobody".^[38]

Wonder Girls performing "Tell Me" at The Fillmore in San Francisco in June 2010. From left to right: Ye-eun, Sohee, Hye-rim, Yubin and Sunye.

On April 5, 2010, the Wonder Girls announced a 20-show tour of the US and Canada, the Wonder World Tour, which will include fellow label mates 2PM who will be joining them for 9 confirmed dates in Washington DC, Atlanta, New York,Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Francisco in conjunction with Live Nation,^[39] with other dates yet to be confirmed. The tour is a combination of the English and Korean versions of their hits, covers of popular English-language song, and their new songs from their upcoming album, as stated by Yenny during their Ustream webchat with fans on April 17, 2010.^[40] The first leg of the tour began in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2010.

On May 1, the Wonder Girls' performed at the Korean Music Festival at theHollywood Bowl ^[41]

The Wonder Girls followed up their tour announcement with the unveiling of the newest single/EP, titled 2 Different Tears. The title track was recorded in three different languages: Chinese, Korean and English. The music video for 2 Different Tears premiered on YouTube on May 15, 2010; it was shot in the Gyeonggi-doprovince of South Korea. The music video features Park Jin-Young and Korean-American comedian Bobby Lee. There are three versions of the music video : Korean, English and Chinese.^[42] Their album was released on the same day.

Between May 15, 2010 and May 31, 2010, the Wonder Girls returned to South Korea to promote the Korean version of 2 Different Tears. They had their comeback TV performance starting from M.Net's M! Countdown on May 22, 2010. On May 27, 2010, the Wonder Girls won their first #1 award for "2 Different Tears" on M! Countdown. The group wrapped up their last week of promotional activities in South Korea by performing on MBC's Music Core on May 29, 2010. During this two-week period, the Wonder Girls also appeared on several Korean variety and talk shows, including KBS's Win Win and Happy Together, as well as SBS's Family Outing 2 and MBC's Come to Play.

In May 2010, eight more US cities and two Canadian cities were added to the second leg of the Wonder World Tour. In addition, it was announced that label mates, 2AM, would open for the Wonder Girls in San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Englewood, CO, Atlanta, andChicago.^[43] During this time, the Wonder Girls' American promotional activities continued to earn them recognition: popular concert venueHouse of Blues named them "Artist of the Month" for June 2010^[44] while online concert authority Pollstar featured them in a special article titled "The Wonders of K-pop".^[45]

On July 29, MTV Korea premiered a new Season of Wonder Girls, MTV Wonder Girls (Season 4), that introduces the Wonder Girls'everyday life in the United States, such as at their New York home and studio, and preparations for the upcoming MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010.^[46] The MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010 was held at the Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach on July 31. The show has been broadcast on August 21 on MTV Asia.^[47]

On July 30, M.net premiered a new show Made in Wonder Girls that take the viewers behind the scenes of the Wonder Girls their first American tour, Wonder World Tour, as well as their promotions in Singapore and Indonesia.^[48]

On August 3, the Wonder Girls performed in Singapore's SINGfest 2010 at Fort Canning Park.^[49] On September 3 The Wonder Girl Will Perform On Seattle For Aion.^[50]

On October 18th, JYP announced a television show to be broadcast in the US and the world."The Wonder Girls are currently shooting the first episode of a Wonder Girls Television Series, about 5 talented Asian pop stars crossing over to the United States and getting lost, targeted at teens which will be due to be broadcast around the world with the main focus in America."

FT Island will give their fans a New Year gift as the boys will pay a visit to their fans via their ASIA Tour. In 2 months period of January until February the boys will start touring in Asia. They will start from Japan, Thailand,Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore.

Much anticipation it is since a report came and stated that FT Island concert tickets in Taiwan (with 3000 seats) are sold out!

According to FT Island company F & C Music,°± One of the reason of the good respond (sold out ticket) is also be affected by Lee HongKi°Øs recent drama °∞You°Øre Beautiful°±. And this is such a good start for FT Island°Øs ASIA Tour!°±

FT Island will hold a show in Tokyo on December 23rd. And, for their next year Asia Tour, they will start their tour by performing again in Tokyo-Japan on January 20, 2010, then continues to Bangkok-Thailand on February 6, whilst on February 27 they will do their Taiwan°Øs Concert. As for Hong Kong and Philippines (held in Manila) schedule is said to be held on February as well.

Pre-Debut

The members were professionally trained primarily in singing, dancing and languages, while a select few also underwent further training in acting and modeling. Many of the members had already made appearances in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group.^[3]

[edit]2007–2008: Debut and First Album

In July 2007, Girls' Generation had their unofficial first stage performance on M.Net's School of Rock where the group performed their first single, titled "Into the New World" (Korean: "다시 만난 세계", Dasi Mannan Segye). A documentary recording the story of the group's debut titled M.Net's Girls Go To School was filmed during this time, showing the members as they moved into an apartment together and prepared for their performances. The group's first single was physically released soon after, including an instrumental of the group's debut song and two other tracks; "Beginning" and "Perfect for You". The latter's Korean title is "Wish" (Korean: "소원", SoWon), which later became the name of Girls' Generation's official fan-club (stylized: S♡NE). The group's debut and first ever promotions began on August 5, 2007, first performing on SBS's Inkigayo and then later on MBC's Show! Music Core and KBS's Music Bank. "Into the New World" achieved #1 spot on M.netM.Countdown!.

The group released their first self-titled full album in late autumn 2007 with the lead single "Girls' Generation" (Korean: "소녀시대"), a remake of Lee Seung-cheol's 1989 hit. Promotion for the single started in early November. The album also included the group's first single Into the New World, "Perfect For You" retitled as "Honey", and 8 other tracks by the group. In early 2008, Girls' Generation began promoting their second single from the album, "Kissing You", which won the group their first k-chart win after getting the number one position on the KBS Music Bank February chart.^[4]

In March 2008, the album was re-packaged, re-released and re-titled Baby Baby. A third single, "Baby Baby", was used to promote the album. During the group's promotions, members Jessica, Tiffany and Seohyun were also featured on a mini-album released by Roommate, a one-man band from Purple Communication. The mini-album was titled Roommate: Emotional Band Aid, and was released on December 1, 2008. The 3rd track from the mini-album was performed by the 3 Girls' Generation members and is titled "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: "오빠 나빠", literally "Bad Brother", although contextually it refers to an older male friend). The track was digitally released before the album was, coming out in April 2008 and topping several charts. The song was performed live on SBS Inkigayo and M.net's M.countdown some time later.^[5]^[6]Later in the year the three members released "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic!)" together as the theme song for the Nexon game Mabinogi, with Tiffany participating in the music video.^[7]

It was announced in autumn 2008 that Girls' Generation would be starring in a reality show on M.net, titled Factory Girl. The show chronicles the members working as interns at fashion magazine Elle Girl.^[8] The articles the group worked on were actually featured in the Korean Elle Girl magazine. The program began airing in early October.^[9] In Late 2008, the group also participated in the SM Town Live '08 concert along with other SM Town artists.

[edit]2009: Other activities and comebacks

On December 26 of 2008, posters of the Girls' Generation members sporting simple white shirts, jeans and roller-skates were posted up in various locations around Seoul. The posters were met with such popularity that SM Entertainment's phone-lines were blocked up by callers asking whether the posters were for sale and the company was forced to ask fans to stop taking the posters down for personal use.^[10] Three days later on December 29, the group's management confirmed that the posters were indeed teaser posters and that the group would soon release their first EP, The First Mini Album — Gee the following month in January, 2009.^[11]

A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single "Gee" released soon after. Gee was met with instant popularity, toppingCyworld's hourly music chart on the release day.^[12] The song also went #1 on all major digital music charts within two days.^[13] The music video set a record on release, garnering 1 million views on GomTV in under a day. The music video became the first to reach "Diamond Track" status on GomTV after breaking the 5 million view mark on January 16.^[14]

The group began its album promotion on January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core where they sang their new lead single, "Gee", as well as the track "Himnae (Way To Go)", another song from their mini-album.^[15] Gee went on to become a phenomenal hit, breaking the record for consecutive no.1 wins on Music Bank with 9 consecutive wins, as well as receiving a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo. The track also showed strength on other charts, topping the Mujikon, Melon and M.Net charts for 8 consecutive weeks, the Dosirak chart for 7 weeks, the Musechart for 6 weeks and the Baksu chart for 4 weeks.^[16]^[17]

After a short break, SM Entertainment announced that the group would be back with a new mini-album sporting a "Marine Girl" concept. The new single was to be titled "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" (Korean: "소원을 말해봐", literally "Tell Me Your Wish"); with the full mini album being released digitally on June 22, 2009.^[18]^[19] The group started their promotional activities on the June 26, 2009 recording of KBS's Music Bank.^[20] The performance was followed by follow-up comeback performances on MBC's Music Core and SBS's Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. The physical release of Genie was delayed by SM Entertainment in order to redo the album art, and was released 4 days later on June 29, 2009.^[18]

The track proved to be a massive success. It conquered various music sites like Melon, Dosirak, MNet, Bugs and it was No.1 on the weekly charts and SKT ringtone weekly charts of the first week of July.^[21] The mini-album sold an estimated 50,000+ copies in its first week after release (almost double the numbers from the first-week sales of "Gee"), an unusual feat for any Korean girl group.^[22]

Their first No.1 award for "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" was on the July 10, 2009 episode of KBS Music Bank.^[23]^[24] Their second award was claimed at the July 12, 2009 episode of SBS's Inkigayo and their third on the 16th on the same show.^[25] The group finished up promoting for "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" in August 2009.

[edit]2010: Second Album, Japanese debut and Hoot

Later in January, SM Entertainment confirmed the release of Oh!, the group's second full-length album to be released on January 28.^[26] The lead single "Oh!", was digitally released on January 25 with the music video being released two days later.^[27] The song proved to be popular topping various charts upon release.^[28] On January 30, the group started promotions with the recording of MBC's Show! Music Core.^[29] The broadcast of the performance experienced a blackout near the end, to which MBC made the whole performance available online in response.^[30] With 'Oh!', the group went on to win 5 consecutive K-charts on KBS Music Bank, as well as achieving a triple crown on SBSInkigayo.^[31] 'Oh!' also went on to win Music Bank's half-year K-chart and came in at 2nd on Hanteo's first half album sales chart.^[32]

Starting from March 11, 2010, photos of the members were released online showcasing a dark concept, dubbed "Black SoShi".^[33] A teaser video was released on March 16, with the new single Run Devil Run being released as a digital single on March 17.^[34] With the combined sales of both the full album "Oh!" and the repackage "Run Devil Run", Girls' Generation sold more albums than any other artist in the first half of 2010.^[32] The music videos for both "Oh!" and "Run Devil Run" made it into GOMTV's 2010 First Half Top 10 ranking, the group having attracted over 13 million views in 6 months.^[35]

Mid-June, it was announced that the group had signed contracts in May, and would begin working under Universal Music Japan's record label Nayutawave Records for their Japanese promotions, with their first Japanese single expected to be released in September 2010.^[36]^[37]^[38]Girls' Generation began promotion in Japan in August. "少女時代到来～初来日記念盤～" (Girls' Generation's Arrival ～ First Time in Japan Commemoration Disc ～), a DVD featuring seven of the group's music videos as well as special bonus footage was released on August 11, with the special edition of the DVD containing a pink glowstick as well as a pass to the Girls' Generation debut at the Tokyo Ariake Colliseumon August 25.^[39] According to Universal Music Japan, the DVD had reached considerable success even before physical release, the pre-orders having sold out.^[40] In the first week after release, the DVD sold 23,000 copies, making no.4 on the weekly DVD Oricon ranking and no.3 on the weekly music DVD ranking,^[41] making Girls' Generation the first female k-pop group to make the Oricon DVD Top-5 ranking.^[42]

Amidst their Japanese activities, the group also participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour alongside their label-mates on August 21 atSeoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium.^[43] And then in Shanghai and Los Angeles on later dates.^[44]

On August 25, the group held their first showcase in Tokyo Ariake Colliseum.^[45] With an initial 10,000 fans invited, it was reported to be the most large-scale plan for a Korean artist debuting in Japan.^[39] However, due to high number of expected attendees, the group's management announced that the showcase would take place three times in the same day rather than once to accommodate the estimated 20,000 fans.^[46]The group sang 5 of their Korean tracks at each of the showcases, the total number of attendees over all three shows estimated to be at least 22,000.^[47] At this showcase, the Genie Japanese music video was also revealed publicly for the first time, the teaser having been released a few days prior on August 20.^[48]

Their Japanese debut single "Genie" peaked at the #5 spot on the same day of its release on the Oricon Charts and later rose to the #2 position some time later, earning the group a #4 position on the Oricon weekly ranking.^[49]^[50]^[51] The group also hit the number #1 spots on Japan iTunes' music video chart and both the Rekochoku daily video clip chart and incoming movie daily ranking chart a day later.^[2] With pre-orders amounting to 80,000, the single sold an estimated 45,000 copies in the first week after release, breaking the record for foreign artists debuting in Japan.^[52]^[53] The single also placed high on Japan's Billboard chart, ranking #4 on the comprehensive Hot 100 chart, #5 on the Hot Single Sales Chart and #1 on the Hot Top Airplay chart.^[49] On October 20, 2010, the group released their second Japanese single, "Gee".^[54] On October 26, 2010 it was announced that their Japanese 2nd single "Gee" reaches #1 on the Oricon Daily Chart making them the first non-Japanese Asian girl group to do so.^[55]

On October 27, 2010, the group released their third Korean mini-album, Hoot, which consisted of five songs.^[56] The music video for the lead single, "Hoot", was released on October 28.^[57] Girls' Generation commenced their promotional activities with a comeback stage on KBS'sMusic Bank on October 29.^[58] On October 30, "Hoot" ranked #1 on the weekly Gaon Chart.^[59] Hoot is also scheduled to be released in Japan on December 22, 2010 with added tracks.^{[citation needed]}

Girls' Generation also participated in Japan at FNS Music Festival with their two hit Japanese singles, "Gee" and "Genie" on December 4. The music festival was hosted by Fuji Television. ^[60]

On December 9th, 2010, the group attended the Golden Disk Awards , where they ended up winning the Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) for their 2nd album Oh!, a never before seen feat, as no girl group has ever won the award. They also become the first artist ever to win the Disk Daesang and the Digital Daesang which they did last year for their hit single "Gee" .

Pre debut

Jinon, the team leader, played the role of the male lead in SG Wannabe's "Gashiri" music video. Lee U was an ulzzang^[1] prior to debut. Lee U first gained popularity in 2005 when he participated in many variety programmes with his father.^[4], he was originally set to debut as a solo singer under the name U (Korean: 唯) LeeU also participated in the SBS Drama Gourmet soundtrack in 2008. Jin On, Kan and Ye Jun used to be members of a dance team that included several singers from Korea, such as Rain.^[5]. Both Ye Jun and Kan attended Anyang High School of Arts in Anyang.

[edit]2010: Debut

F.Cuz was officially announced by CAN&J's entertainment on December 6, 2009.^[6] Starting from that day, one member per day was revealed to the public in short videos that showcased their talent.^{[citation needed]} The videos had over 30,000 views.^[7] Afterwards, F.Cuz began filming the music video for their first single, "Jiggy", on December 15, 2009^[8]. The single was then released in digital format on January 8, 2010,^[2]^[3]alongside their debut performance on KBS's music show Music Bank.^[9] After a short break, they digitally and physically released their "No One" (EP) on March 11, 2010.

[edit]2010: Comeback with a new album

CAN&J's Entertainment has announced that F.Cuz will comeback with a new album called "Gorgeous" with the title track "Midnight Sun" on November 18, 2010. They have already released a number of teaser photos, a teaser video and an audio teaser has been released on November 11, a week before their album release. Since eight months have passed after their last performance of "No One", many fans are anticipating for their comeback.

In the romantic-comedy "Oh My Lady" an ahjumma (older woman) becomes the manager for a popular celebrity.

Yu-Ra (Park Han-Byeol) is the marketing team leader for a fashion brand. She's also the first love of top star Seong Min-Woo (Choi Si-Won). Seong Min-Woo is very arrogant.

Yoon Gae-Hwa (Chae Rim) is the 35 year old housewife who will become the manager ...

Notes

"Oh My Lady" will takeover the Mon. & Tues. time slot previously occupied by SBS drama "Pick Up the Stars".
Principle cast members will start reading the scenario together on Feb. 5th, 2010.
Choi Si-Won lost 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) to play Seong Min-Woo - a pop star with the perfect body.