Korean Pop Idol Beauty: The good, the bad, and the ugly

SNSD aka Girls Generation

Hero Jaejoong of JYJ

Dae Guk Nam Ah aka The Boys of Super Space

The Korean Pop Music Industry (aka kpop) is not just know for the talent of its singers, amount of work put into performances, or revolutionary music videos, no. By far the most notable trait of the kpop industry is the perfection in appearance. One of the most famous girl groups of all time is SNSD or Girls Generation. Two of their nine members are pictured here: Yoona and Seohyun.        

SNSD embodies the beauty standards of Korea and other parts of asia which, very unlike America, is ONE face, and ONE set of features that are considered beautiful and desirable. These features include: an oval shaped face (as opposed to a square/angular jawline), large eyes with double eyelids, pale flawless skin, and, of course, a tiny tiny body. This however is mostly for girls, for guys the exact specifications are less existent, and tanner skin is more acceptable because it can be "sexy."

5 Things You May Not Know About Anime

Depending on their first exposure to anime, many people may have futuristic, dark, cheesy, or risqué pictures flash into their minds when they hear the word "anime." However, I am here to tell you about just what it is and isn't, and hopefully give a well rounded impression of what it represents to countless people. Sure, we spend lots of time watching it, but that's because anime hits on themes not reached for in America like personal freedom, shy romance, ultimate control, and the beauty of nakama (Japanese term that means friends/crew. A term that identifies friends to be as close as family, like homies, but better).

1) It is a style, not a genre

In fact, it simply means animation. It's technically just the abbreviated version of how "animation" is pronounced in Japanese. In Japan, the word "anime" refers to all types of animation, but in America and many other countries around the world, anime refers to the style of animation that was developed in Japan.

2) Within the style, there are several genres!

Anime fans have several levels and types of anime to chose from. They range from the innocent Kamisama Hajimemashita, a supernatural story of a girl who accidentally becomes an earth goddess and falls for her annoyed fox-demon assistant, to Bleach, an uber popular and loooong anime about Ichigo, a teenager who becomes a soul reaper of sorts (in a good way) and learns to be a part of Soul Society with all its dangers. Despite these odd sounding themes, many sweet and endearing movies are made using the animation style as well.

Kamisama Hajimemashita

Ichigo from Bleach (would you believe his name means strawberry?)

My Neighbor Totoro by Studio Ghibli
(most adorable movie ever, just sayin')

Why Japan? and now Korea...?

So why create a blog about Japan? I've never been there, I'm not Japanese (only half Chinese), and I am about 1% fluent in the language...so why make a blog about it? BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME. I am essentially in love with the culture (at least the parts I know about), and by having this blog I will have a lovely "responsibility" to watch the newest music videos, movies, etc...right?
SECONDLY: I've decided this blog will also include lots of info on Korea simply because Korean pop music+fashion+dramas have a huge part to play in all parts of asia...including Japan. I actually fell in love with all things Korean before all things Japanese, so I can't abandon it now. In fact I was going to change the blog title to KakkoiiKankokujinKaizoku, but fortunately I realized that would be ridiculous because people seeing the blog wouldn't know what to call it. I figured it would be cool because it talked about Korean Pirates but was in Japanese, but alas...most people aren't too likely to know it means "cool korean pirates" @_@. (In case you're wondering, the title I used means "we be cool pirates-   Kakkoii=cool, Kaizoku=pirate or pirates)
And in case you're wondering, there IS a reason there are so many things about pirates, but I'll talk about that later ^^
I also enjoy this blog theme simply because it's original and a topic few people know much about. I've fallen in love with the language, the style of animation that is anime, the beautiful creations of the famous Japanese movie studio: Studio Ghibli, not to mention the music Japan consumes, and don't forget the FOOD they consume. I love it all. And I want to talk about it.

So...

ready to get started?