KDrama and Kpop

I've been watching Asian dramas, i.e, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese for over a decade, though I've been in Asian drama hiatus in between till Boys Over Flowers.  I've watched more Korean dramas than those 2 mentioned above. We've been seeing Kpop idols that ventured out into acting.

I'm not really into pop (mentioned this dozen times). Rarely that I notice the actor's acting, maybe because some of the dramas that I watched was dubbed in Filipino. Aside from having a different plot/story than its Filipino counterpart like Mara Clara -- the finding-of-the-diary-epic drama, boy! Korean actors/actresses are pretty! Before when you say Kdrama in Philippines its right away melodramatic and will make you cry (hello Endless love and Stairway to Heaven!). Oh I said I'm not into pop, well you can find kpop idols in most dramas now! In fact one reason that I started digging into Korean music was because of their OSTs, love the Korean ballads (Sung Si Kyung anyone?) and of course those cute cute cute actors!

Vic Zhou - Taiwanese actor, found him in Meteor Garden.  Later on, the F4 made their boy-band debut the same year. It was a success right? Almost watched their concert but I refunded my ticket since they changed the venue.  I watched Mars and Frog Prince (can't hardly remember this) because I just can't get enough of Vic.
Rain - took me a while to appreciate Rain's look.. well till I saw him dance :)

Kim Hyun Joong - I guess its relative to the character. With Meteor Garden, I like the character of Vic Zhou, and so with the Korean version, I still like that character. Just with this drama Playful Kiss that I learned that KHJ is actually in a boy band SS501. Well that explains why he sings well, so talented he knows how to play guitar (for me that's a talented person already). Though this drama did not rate well, I still love this drama. The Taiwanese version (ISWAK) of Playful Kiss is so good (and long, 2 seasons) that putting all those things in 16 episodes and 7 in youtube is not enough.  Hope he'll ditch your blond hair!
Jung Yong Hwa - I watched You're Beautiful just last year (September), after 2 years of its original airing. With the persistent recommendation of my friend Indie because of Jang Geun Suk, I watched the drama and was very thankful to Indie. My eyes were all to JGS, till I Yong Hwa came out in one episode (the market place episode) all dressed up. The rest was history, watched Heartstring, listened to CN Blue, bought their CDs and traveled to Hong Kong just to see them.

Many would criticize kpop idols that turned into acting. Maybe if I will watch those drama again, I can easily see what they are talking about. However we cannot dismiss the fact idols were probably put there for ratings. Although for Yong Hwa (running into YH's defense) I think CN Blue did not debut yet during the time of You're Beautiful and his character in Heartstring is way far from his personality, I know actors should portray any role, but come on he is a rookie for crying out loud.

Although having a kpop idol in a drama would mean a double figure rating. For me I would not even know that one actor is in a kpop group till I find him/her beautiful and would begin to google and start to virtually stalk that idol. However some should stay away from dramas and stick to what they do best (sing and dance) and vice versa.