Re:T-ara

  *Sigh...*T-ARA has been going through an extremely hard time these past few days regarding Hwayoung's departure and CCM's Kwangsoo Kim's handling of it, as a huge fan of the girls it is really troubling reading all the things that have been coming up from all sides, but as a fan I can only hope they will weather the storm and come out intact on the other side.
     So sad, as just the other week, I'd been watching this really sweet video of the girls at the WildRoses event (making eye contact with the fancamera and making the cutest smiles and gestures), the girls were so warm and friendly you realized how much you loved them. 

Here's to Sweeter Days:

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Legend Of Lizzy

   Regular visitors to this blog already know of my love for Jihyo, the "Ace" player in SBS's awesome show RUNNING MAN, but I’m finally getting around to the ealier episodes when After School's Lizzy was part of the cast. At first I didn’t know if I would like her since I only wanted Jihyo as the female Running Man, but she sure was a cutie, and soon enough, I was a huge fan of hers!

    Lizzy was only a member of the running Man team for a short time, but she made enough of an impact upon fans that they still muse online about her possible return to the show. Naysayers have stated that she wasn't a very strong player in the first place, and I'll admit that the first time I saw an episode of RM with her in it, she DID get caught very quickly and without much fuss or fight. But then Iwatched more shows with her and realized strength was never SUPPOSED to be her forte- no, the skill that Busan Girl Lizzy brought to the table was her amazing AEGYO!

    Really, watching her adorable smiles, gestures and quirks throughout the broadcasts makes me realize that she actually filled a character type that is absent in later shows where the only female Running Man was the beautiful but decidedly super-tuff Jihyo. As Joon-Ki (the only other member who later left the show)  filled the "Pretty Boy" image, so did Lizzy fill the "Cute Idol" role, and FILL IT SHE DID!
  With her eye-smile and chipmunk cheery cheeks, her every glance had me on high, and I just HAVE to add what an ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE giggle she has. I noticed it early on, but it really came out in this one cute scene where they're passing around a Joker card that no one wants to get stuck with. After unwittingly picking it from Jihyo, Lizzy coolly offers it to HaHa, her giggle clearly giving away the fact when she's successfully passed it onto him!

Sadly, once Lizzy departed to focus on her AFTER SCHOOL activities, she never looked back, and though JoongKi would occasionally make guest appearances every now and then, We've never seen the return of the original Running Man Vitamin Pill! too bad, it would be such a thrill to see her reconnecting with her RM roots!
PS: just to show that it ain't all just cutesy smiles and adorable gestures, i HAD to isolate this one stunning two second appearance of Lizzy's curvy backside- Though it happened in just a heartbeat, my mind just went WHOA!!! when I saw it...Who woulda thought  she'd come with such an impressive "backfield in motion"? LOL

*All subtitles done by the awesome ISUBS Team!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

SNSD's "Paparazzi" CD

SNSD "Paparazzi" Single wi Newspaper Booklets

Forgot to upload these pictures of my latest K-Pop acquisition, SNSD's latest Japanese offering "Paparazzi". Of the options I had, I chose the one with the bonus DVD disc featuring the MV and the Close Up Shot version. This edition also also said it was going to come with two "Newpaper Booklets". What the heck was THAT? The term "Newspaper" worried me as it reminded me of the Booklet that came in Arashi's Limited Edition album TIME, which was printed on actual newspaper type paper, easily one of the crappiest and most disappointing limited editions I've ever purchased! So yeah, I was concerned.

Paparazzi CD gatefold, Bonus Poster, Two Newspaper Booklets (unfolded)

Newspaper Booklet insert unfolded

 All that worrying was for nothing, however, for when the CD single came in (in a beautiful DVD sized digi-pack), those two booklets were as awesome as you could get! When they called them "Newspaper" booklets, these were actually slick glossy heavy grade paper books that unfolded as to resemble ACTUAL Newspapers, specifically a Hollywood Gossip Rag, as befitting the single's theme PAPARAZZI!

Back of both Newspaper Booklets (unfolded)

PS: The actual SONG "Paparazzi was kick-ass, and so was the PV! This was a total success!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Who's That Girl: Gouriki Ayame

So who's this actress "Gouriki Ayame" that's been spicing up the scenes in W No Higeki, anyway? She's rockin' the most adorable pout! Yummy!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Inquisitive Hyomin

When Gary got paired up with beauty Hyomin in the awesome "Charlie's Angels" episode of Running Man, he initially thought he was the luckiest guy in the race! As the pairing were announced, he stated "This Here is Paradise!" as an adorable Hyomin stood nearby nibbling on a bread snack. Little did he know that this would be a hilarious descent into Hell! LOL

 As they entered the ground floor of the recreational Spa to begin the Race, Hyomin wanted to know if she'd be allowed to talk if she got caught and thrown into jail, and began asking him prison details to an absent-minded Gary.

Atter getting pushed into the Pool (by a mischievous Jihyo) and realizing it was warm, he decided that the view from inside the pool was a perfect place to stakeout the joint. Unfortunately, Hyomin didn't take to the idea of jumping into the water, asking over and over about the water temperature!

 After finally pulling a reluctant Hyomin in with him, they began their stakeout, but her inquisitive nature soon took over and she started inundating Gary with questions, LOL

 WHining about how the water was getting colder, she began worrying that the water would "shrivel her up".  When asked what she should do if it happened, Gary's only retort was, "If You Shrivel, You Shrivel!", to a delighted Hyomin

 As they made their was further and further fromt he warm water source, Hyomin began fretting about  it getting cold, til Gary exloded with "Aigoo! Stop Whining!!!!" AHAHAHA

 They moved further down the pool, and Hyomin suddenly became curious about the fog rolling in. Soon her questions were all about the mysterious steam and its source, til finally Gary exploded with "I Beg You, Can't You STOP ASKING QUESTIONS?!" while Hyomin giggled, pleased with creating such an outburst! As they moseyed on down, Hyomin innocently said, "But I still have so many things I'm curious about!"

 In a while, the couple moved down to n enclosed room where Gary prepared to lie in wait for an ambush. But once again, Inquisitive Hyomin came out and she began peppering him with deatils about how to rip the nametags off the members.

Hyomin: "No one knows we're hiding, right?" Gary: "No one knows" 

Hyo: "How do you catch them?" Gary: "Just catch hold of them." 

Hyomin: "Then, who will do it?"  Gary; "I catch them, you tear it off"

Hyomin: "Oppa, then Whose will you tear off?"

Gary: "WHY ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT SO MANY THINGS?!!!

LOLOL
*Subs by the awesome ISUBS Squad!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My K-Pop Collection 3 Months In

My Friend and I have been comparing our current K-Pop Collections, and after spending  too much time trying to describe which "version" of a certain release I have, i thought it was easier (and admittedly a lot more fun) to just paste up the covers of what I've accumulated in just three months of manic K-pop fever! Should also serve as a good reference to where I was at this time of my K-pop Life later on down the road!

MY K-POP COLLECTION

as of 07/2012

My KARA Collection

My SNSD Collection

My RAINBOW and T-ARA Collections

2NE1, Brown Eyed Girls and SECRET

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Idol Goodness on Running Man

What a coincidence to read the news that T-ARA's Jiyeon's gonna be appearing on RUNNING MAN again- I JUST saw the Running Man episode with her FIRST appearance, and BOY was it AWESOME! The theme was a high school couples date, with the girl guests dressed in traditional seifuku school outfits meeting up with their prospective Running Men at a retro 80’s dance hall, where the pairs would be matched up! Along with Jiyeon were idols SUZY from MISS A, SULLI and LUNA from f(x) and Running Man's very own Jihyo  to complete the Date meetup!

Everyone knows Haha's usual schtick whenever it was announced that a girl idol was coming onto the show was to call out "Suzy! Suzy!" before the guest was revealed, so you knew he'd be trying his best to get paired up with her...but what's  THIS? Rather than the brash and boastful HaHa , we see  a shy and bashful Haroror instead! LOL! Luckily, she picked him anyway!

Sensible Sulli ended up picking Jaesuk, and they really matched well together since Yoohuk was the "thinker" of the Running Men, and good-natured Luna gracefully accepted being placed with KwangSoo  after Jihyo and Gary became their usual "Monday Couple" characters!

Since personalities and similar style played a lot in who got chosen, when Jiyeon commented that she was an athletic girl who was really into sports, it seemed inevitable that she and “Commander” Sparta JongKook would be paired, and when they were, the “Power” couple was born!!! The two were so naturally compatible, and when JongKook sat “tuff-guy” style on the bus, Jaesuk chided him for being a bad influence on Jiyeon as she sat exactly like him, the two bad kids from the neighborhood, LOL!!!

One of the funnier challenges was having to carry your date on your back through a busy shopping district, find a stationary shop for pencils, run back to the meeting place and sharpen the pencils in a limited timeframe!  Seems simple enough, but you not only had to sharpen the three pencils in an allotted 15 seconds, but do it on your partners' HEAD!!!!

If you failed, you had to start all over again, thus everal trips to the pencil shop were required by all! Jongkook had no problem carrying Jiyeon, but poor HaHa and Jaesuk were really pushed to the limit! LOL!

At the final Chase site (an old school, naturally) Gary became the chaser  (after having Jihyo stolen from him in a game twist earlier) and the 4 couples had to hide. As Jongkook and Jiyeon hid successfully in a dark supplies closet from the prowling Gary, Jiyeon marveled at how much FUN the game was to play!

Hilarity ensued when Jaesuk and Sulli thought it would be a good idea to hide in the car, but their self congratulations were premature as Gary made a beeline RIGHT FOR THE CAR they were sitting in! Aigoo, everyone's HEARTS froze (including Jaesuk's VJ who was ordered to hide as well!) and they all slunk down as far down as they could in their seats before clueless Gary moved along! WHEW!!

 Sulli was so cute hiding out there, but out of all the girls, I have to say that the clear winner for me was the absolutley squeezably huggable SUZY- Really, she stole my heart in this one: look  at this scene where she and HaHa are hiding behind a wall, then when she sees Jaesuk and Sulli laughing at them, Suzy smiles the cutest smile you've ever seen in your life *HEART MELTS*

All in all another exciting and FUN race, and I just CAN’T WAIT for Jiyeon’s return appearance! If that episode is even HALF as fun as this one was, it's gonna end up being ANOTHER favorite episode!!!!

Jihyo and the Girls relax after the Race

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Awesome 2NE1 Haul Exhilarates!!!

2NE1's first Two Mini-Albums and first album "To Anyone"

So I just got a wonderful shipment of 2NE1 CDs, and this will come as no surprise to those of you who’ve already got 'em, but I had no idea they were gonna be so frickin BEAUTIFUL!! Though 2NE1 was one of the first K-pop artists I ever liked, it took a while before I saw the light and realized I needed to have the songs of this kick-ass group on hard disc! 

Contents of 2NE1's Second Mini album

The CDs I ordered were 2NE1’s first two mini albums and their first album proper, “To Anyone”, and when I ordered it, I thought for sure that they were going to be in regular jewel cases for some reason. Then when I went to go pick up my package at the Post Office, I peered into the box and thought to myself, "What are those hard-shelled DVD case-things in there?" Pulling it out I almost had a heart attack!!!  Man, the elaborate designs, the hard shell embossed casing, the postcard-stock quality photobooklets and those cool anime postcards!! To quote Jodie Foster in Contact: "So beautiful. So beautiful... I had no idea."

Secret "Moving In Secret" CD + Bonus Photos

Also in that order was my copy of SECRET's  first album "Moving In Secret" (featuring the absolutely solid song “Love Is MOVE!) which is beautiful as well, a glossy photobook and CD housed in a gatefold Hardcover Book (like KARA's album STEP), I really thought it was only going to be in a CD sized box. Imagine my surprise pulling THAT out of the box! PLUS, I didn't know it was going to come with the glossy photos (though truth be told, I still can't tell who everyone is outside of Sunhwa) Usually when a release come with a photo, it includes only ONE…Man SEVEN photos? Talk about your BONUS external bonuses!!! Can You say Hell Yeah!!!

Brown Eyed Girls "Sixth Sense"

I also got Brown Eyed Girls' "Sixth Sense" album which was cool, but would be more exciting if I didn't realize a day after ordering it that there was a Cd+DVD version available, LOL! But it had hella nice pictures of the girls (especially my babes Narsha) so I can't complain!!!! Now just waiting for my T-ara and SNSD albums to arrive for MORE K-Pop gushing!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com